F 123 
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Copy 1 



1 



■^.rooKlyTi. CitiievVs. 



PROCEEDINGS AT THE DINNER 



GIVliN 111- TUE 



CITIZENS OF BROOKLYN 



AT THE MANSION HOUSE, 



ON THE 5TPI OF AUQUST, 1857, 



HON. HENllY C. MUItPHY, 



PKEVIODSLY TO 



HIS DEPARTURE ON HIS MISSION AS MINISTER TO THE NETHERLANDS. 



BROOKLYN : 

1. VAN ANDEN, TRINTER, 30 AND 32 EUl.TON STREET. 
MDOCCLVII. 






PRINTED FOE PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. 



COMPLIMENTAlir DINNER 



HON. HENRY C. MURPHY 



Previously to the departure of the Hon. Henry 
C. Murphy, on his mission to the Hague, a number 
of his fellow-citizens of Brooklyn decided to testify, 
by a public dinner, their appreciation of his charac- 
ter and qualifications for the high duties, to the 
fulfilment of which he had been called. They met 
to mingle congratulations on his receiving such a 
mark of the confidence and esteem of the Chief 
Magistrate of the Union ; and on tlie advantages to 
the commerce and friendly relations of the country 
abroad, to result from his selection, with regrets at 
losing, even temporarily, a citizen whose absence 
would leave a blank in the circles of public and 
private life. His fellow citizens among whom his 
whole life had been spent, exhibited a universal 
desire to participate in the festival ; and leading 
citizens of all parties united to honor the occasion. 



The dinner was given at the Mansion House, and 
in every respect exceeded the anticipations of its 
promoters. A goodly company of the most dis- 
tinguished citizens of Brooklyn assembled ; all 
differences of opinion on political or other topics 
were merged for the time in the general sentiment 
in honor of intellectual capacity and moral worth. 
Spontaneous and genuine expressions of regard 
emanated from all quarters, and the proceedings at 
the dinner were characterized by good feeling and 
propriety, and passed off to the eminent satisfac- 
tion of all present. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



THE COM^riTTEE AND MR. MURPTTY 



Brooklyn, July 15, 1857. 



IToN. Henry C. Murphy 



Dear Sir — A large number of your fellow citizens, entertaining, 
in common -with the community of whicli you have been from birth 
a resident, a high respect for your public and private character, and 
bound to you by the stronger ties of long personal friendship, are 
desirous of testifying their regard for you in some appropriate and 
piiblic manner, prior to your departure on the honorable mission to 
whioh you have been called. 

"With this view the undersigned, who have been appointed a Com- 
mittee for that purpose, respectfully and earnestly invite you to favor 
them with your company at a Dinner, to be given at such time as 
may be most convenient to you. 

Very respectfully, 

Your friends and fellow citizens. 



N. B. MORSE, 
C. P. SMITH, 
JOHN GRKENWOOD, 
E. W. FISKE, 
.lOHN T. RUNCIE, 
DANIEL EMBURY, 
EDMUND DIUGGS, 
SAMUEL E. JOHNSON, 
WILLIAM HUNTER, Jns. 
AVILLI.\M M. HARRIS, 
WILLIAM WALL, 



L VAN ANDEN, 
IIENUY A. KENT, 
T. f!. liEliGEN, 
JAMES I1U^HMIREY, 
DANIEL VAN VOORHIS, 
ABR'M B. BAYLIS, 
ROLLIN SANFORD, 
NICHOLAS WYCKOFF, 
JOHN W. MAN LEV, 
BARNET JOHNSON, 
HECTOR MORRISON, 
CHARLES WILSON. 



WILLIAM MARSHALL, 
S. L. HUSTED, 
J. CARSON BREVOORT, 
HENRY R. PIERSON, 
JOHN W. HUNTER, 
JOHN A. CROSS, 
WILLIAM H. PECK, 
JOHN IL PRENTICE, 
WILLIAM H. CARY, 
J. S. T. STRANAHAN, 
DANIEL CHAUNCEY. 



Brooklyn-, July 20, 185T. 

Gentlemex: — 

I liave the honor of receiving, this day, your letter of the 15th 
inst., and beg, in reply, to return you my sincere acknowleclginents 
for tlie kind manner in which you have been pleased to extend to 
me the invitation on behalf of my fellow-citizens whom you represent. 

Although, under ahnost any other circumstances, I should be 
compelled to decline such a public testimonial, I do not feel at 
liberty to deny myself the pleasure of meeting those who have so 
strong a personal claim upon my regard, as the valued friends and 
fellow citizens who have made this call. 

In the exercise of the privilege accorded me in j^our letter, I name 
the 5tli of August as the time Avhich will suit my engagements for the 
proposed entertainment. 

With grateful sentiments towards those Avith whom you act, and 
with many thanks to you, gentlemen, for the acceptable manner in 
wliich you have made known tlieir wishes, 

I am yours truly, 

HENRY 0. MURPHY. 

To the Hons. N. B. Morse, C. P. Smith, 
,T. Greenwood and others, Committee. 



PROCEEi:)INas 



In accordance with the preceding invitatiou 
and acceptance, the complimentary dinner to Mr. 
Murphy, prior to his departure for the Hague, in 
the honorable character of Minister from the United 
States of America to the Netherlands, was given 
at the Mansion House in Hicks street, Brooklyn, 
on the evening of the 5th day of August, 1857. 
The spacious dining room was appropriately deco- 
rated and brilliantly lighted; the tables were 
spread with all the luxuries of the season, and 
exhibited many triumphs of the cuisinary art. 
Bouquets and other floral ornaments were liberally 
distributed. 

Daniel Embury, Esq., presided, assisted by 
Teunis G. Bergen, William Hunter, Jr., Samuel 
E. Johnson, Edwards W. Fiske, Wm. M. Harris, 
John W. Hunter, John T. Rungie, I. Yan Anden, 
Daniel Van Voorhis, Esquires, as Vice Presidents. 

The company, about two hundred in number, 
sat down to dinner at half-past seven o'clock. The 
guest of the occasion was seated on the right of 
the president, in a chair elegantly festooned with 



flowers ; next to him in order sat the Honorable 
Fernando Wood, Mayor of the City of New York, 
the Honorable Gdlian C. Verplanck, the Rev. Dr. 
Geo. W. Bethune, the Honorable George Wood ; 
and on the left of the President sat the Rev. Evan 
M. Johnson, the Honorable Samuel S. Powell, 
Mayor of the City of Brooklyn, the Rev. Dr. John 
Kennedy, the Honorable Judges Amasa J. Parker, 
and Lucien Birdseye. Other distinguished gen- 
tlemen, among whom were the ex-Mayors of the 
City of Brooklyn, Edward Copeland, Samuel 
Smith, and Cyrus P. Smith, Judges N. B. Morse 
and John A. Lott, the Honorables John Kelly, 
M. C, John Cochrane, M. C, George Taylor, M. 
C, Aug. Schell, Collector of the port of New 
York, James Humphrey, Esq., &c., were present. 

The Divine blessing on the repast was invoked 
by the Rev. Evan M. Johnson, and after an elegant 
and sumptuous dinner had been disposed of, and 
the dessert served, the first regular toast was 
announced by the Chairman : 

" The President of the United States," 

which was received with enthusiastic cheers. 

James Humphrey, Esq., read a letter of apology 
from the President of the United States, in response 
to an invitation to attend. (The letter, with the 
other correspondence, will be found annexed.) 

" The Governor of the State of New York" 

followed, and was also drunk with all due honors. 



Daniel Embury, Esq., the Chairman, in announ- 
cing the next toast, said : 

Gentlemen : — 

We assemble this evening to perform a very 
grateful duty — to testify our sincere regard for 
our friend and fellow-citizen, the Hon. Henry C. 
Murphy, who is about to leave our shores for a 
temporary residence in a foreign land. His claims 
to this tribute of our respect are manifold. His 
name is identified with all the prominent mea- 
sures undertaken for the improvement of this rap- 
idly growing city. He has filled ably many of the 
higher offices within her gift, and he has justified 
her choice by his untiring devotion to her interests. 
If we contemplate for a moment the personal quali- 
fications and past career of our honorable guest, we 
shall see the peculiar propriety of the appointment 
he has received as Minister to the Netherlands. Im- 
bued by his profession with a profound knowledge 
of the laws of this land, no less learned in the laws 
of nations, and, as a recent member of Congress, 
intimately acquainted with the domestic and for- 
eign policy of our Government, versed in the 
language of the country to which he is accredited 
— well read in its literature and its history — by no 
means ignorant of those secret workings of the 
human heart, through the agency of which masses 
as well as individuals are moved, he may well be 
considered a fit representative of this great Repub- 
lic at the Hague. It is appropriate, too, that such 
a representative should go forth from this ancient 
Dutch village of Breukelen, his native place, settled 



10 

by the old Hollanders and Walloons in their first 
visit to New Netherland, and the birth place of 
their first descendant. It is a remarkable fact, and 
one highly honorable to the city of Brooklyn, that 
two of its Mayors have made accessible to the Eng- 
lish reader four of the rarest works relating to New 
Netherland. They were Avritten in the Dutch lan- 
guage by eye-witnesses, and are replete with in- 
teresting information. To our guest, Mr. Murphy, 
we owe a translation of the voyages of that hardy 
old navigator, De Vries, who published his book at 
Hoorn, in the year 1655 ; and it has now become so 
rare, that a perfect copy of the original is worth 
several times its weight in gold. We owe to him, 
likewise, a translation of the "Representation from 
New Netherland," ascribed to Adrian VanderDonck, 
and of the " Broad Advice to the United Nether- 
land Provinces," attributed to Cornelius Melyn. It 
is quite probable that his venerable Alma Mater, on 
the other side of the river, who had instructed him 
in the massive language of the noble Roman and 
the polished idiom of the ancient Greek saw, Avith 
a smile of approbation, one of her talented sons 
cultivating with assiduous care that vigorous, if not 
most euphonious of modern languages — the verna- 
cular tongue of the Hollander. To the late General 
Jeremiah Johnson — a descendant and genuine type 
of the honest, brave and intelligent old Hollanders, 
who first settled Nieuw Amsterdam and the neigh- 
boring parts of Long Island — a man whom we all 
knew and all loved — for 

" None knew him but to love him, 
None named him but to praise." 



11 

to him we are indebted for a translation of Van- 
der Donck's "Description of New Netherland," — a 
primitive work of inestimable value. In the gallery 
of our City Hall, among the portraits of the chief 
magistrates of our city, may be seen faithful like- 
nesses of both these mayors — the one of venerable 
age, his manly features expressive of the overflow- 
ing benevolence of his heart — the other radiant 
with intellect and comparative youth. But my 
love for the dead, and my friendship for the living, 
are betraying me into prolixity. I will only add, 
that when our friend shall have departed from his 
native land, the City of Brooklyn will feel sensibly 
the absence of one of her most useful and distin- 
iguished citizens. I wish him God-speed, and I pro- 
pose to you, gentlemen, this toast and sentiment : 

"Our disti ngnshed guest, the Hon. Henky C. Murphy, eminently 
fitted, by education, ability and experience in public afiairs, for the 
high duties ^^'ith which he is intrusted. He carries with him, upon 
his honorable^ mission to a foreign court, equally the merited confi- 
dence of the- Government, and the aft'ectionate regard of his fellow- 
citizens." 

Mr, I^luRPHY, in rising to respond, was greeted 
with deafening peals of applause. In response to 
the sentiment, he spoke as follows, being frequently 
interrupted with manifestations of approval : 

Mr. PresiE'ENT and Gentlemen — Most sincerely 
do I acknowledge your kindness. Conscious, as I 
am, that it is far beyond my merits, words fail me 
to exprcjss my sense of the obligation Avhich you 
have imposed. To have the good wishes of my 



12 

friends and neighbors — of those with whom I have 
always lived," and to whom, if a merciful Providence 
sjDares me, I expect to return to spend the remnant 
of my life — is my great ambition. For the cordial 
manner in which you have met me on this occa- 
sion, I offer you the homage of a heart deeply 
touched by your generous sympathy. 

Let me add the expression of the gratification 
which I experience in meeting the citizens of 
Brooklyn upon one common platform of social 
brotherhood, when political differences are forgot- 
ten, and personal rivalries unknown. With many 
of you I have myself had warm political contests, 
carried on, upon my part, at least, with all the zeal 
and energy of the most determined convictions of 
right. To meet you under the circumstances of 
this night affords me the great consolation of be- 
lieving, that in those controversies I have not vio- 
lated your rights, or forgotten the respect due to 
your characters. The asperities of the moment 
have disappeared with the excitements which gave 
them birth. They were 

" Like snow-flakes on the river, 



A moment white, then lost forever." 

You have made this the proudest incident of my 
life. Companions of my boyhood, friends of my 
manhood, associates in many private enterprises 
and public employments, my fellow-citizens who 
have given character and importance to our city — 
for so short is our municipal history — who have 
framed its institutions, who have established its 
credit, who have answered to the call of humanity 



13 

within its limits, who heave provided for the educa- 
tion of its youth and the support of its unfortunate 
and its infirm — in a word, who have cared for botli 
its physical and moral wants — have united in a 
mark of esteem to me personally, whicli has sunk 
deep into my heart, and which I will cherish, not 
only during my sojourn in the distant land to which 
I am about to go, but wherever I may be, as long 
as things of earth shall interest my mortal sense. 

The realities of this scene awaken the memories 
of the past, and open visions of the future. Here 
were the play-grounds of my youth, and on humble 
porches, now displaced for grander mansions, sat 
the fathers whose words to me were oracles of wis- 
dom. They have gone ! — the patriarchs have been 
gathered to their fathers — and we, "in our turn, 
will follow them." The hamlet of a hundred 
houses now takes rank among the first cities in the 
land. The change is marvellous. 

Its spacious docks and warehouses, its spires and 
buildings, now challenge the admiration of the 
stranger, as he passes up our noble bay ; and it vies 
in all the elements of material greatness with the 
great city beside it. It requires no spirit of pro- 
phecy to foretell the union of the two at no distant 
day. The river which divides them will soon cease 
to be a line of separation; and, bestrode by the 
colossus of commerce, will form the link which will 
bind them together. With you rests, in no small 
degree, this destiny. I doubt not that the same 
spirit of advancement, and the same enterprise 



14 

wliicli lias hitherto distinguished the citizens of 
Brooklyn, will mark their future action. You have 
established institutions which require your foster- 
ing but discriminating care. You have gained a 
character for public faith and honor which it be- 
hooves you to maintain untarnished. You have 
engaged in a Avork of great magnitude, and of the 
utmost importance to your growth and prosperity. 
Citizens of unblemished reputation, and of great in- 
telligence and industry have devoted themselves 
to its completion. When done, it will not only be 
a monument to your enterprise and foresight, and 
a fresh impetus to your progress, but truly a foun- 
tain of health to the people.^'' 

Let me not, in speaking of the living, omit to do 
justice to the dead, to whom the honor is due of 
forming, in a great degree, the character and shap- 
ing the destiny of the city. When Brooklyn first 
assumed the habiliments of a city, like the stripling 
when he first takes the garb of a man, she imagined 
that she had the power and ability which belong 
to maturer years. Extravagant projects of public 
improvement were begun, but they were beyond 
both the requirements and means of the time. The 
embarrassments of 1836-7 found her with a depleted 
treasury, and a large floating debt. The depression 
in trade Avhich followed, and the stagnation in real 
estate, rendered the most rigid economy necessary 
in the management of her affairs. 

There have passed from among us two, and only 
two, of those who have held the chief magistracy 

* Mr. Murphy here alludes to the Water Works now in progress. 



15 

of the city. They, however, occupied the mayor.- 
alty chair at the crisis to which I have referred, and 
they were the men for tlic time. Both were re- 
markable for their knowledge of niimicipal affairs. 
The first, glorying in his Dutch descent, possessed 
that strong sense of commercial honor which cha- 
racterized the people from which he claimed his 
ancestry. He made his mayoralty distinguished 
by satisfying the claims of all the public creditors, 
and established the credit of the city on a founda- 
tion which has never been shaken. 

The other coming early in life from New Eng- 
land, like many others who have added character 
and wealth to the city, brought with him here 
those habits of economy and accountability, of 
which our affairs were then in want. He set the 
example of a personal supervision of every depart- 
ment of the city government, and relieved the pub- 
lic burdens by his frugal administration. I need 
say no more. I could say no less of Jeremiah John- 
son and Joseph Sprague. 

Nor let me pass by the brothers Graham. They 
have gone to their reward, but their noble chari- 
ties live after them, to bring down blessings upon 
their name, as long as there will be misfortune in 
our city to relieve. 

You have been pleased, sir, to refer to my new 
career in the country which first sent settlers to this 
portion of our Republic. It is more, perhaps, from 
courtesy to an ancient ally, than to any actual ne- 



16 

cessity, that Congress has provided for a Minister 
to the Hague. Time was when the relation between 
the two countries was very different from what it 
is at present. We were then a mere dependency 
of that power — a mere trading post of a commer- 
cial company, subject to the government of a board 
of directors and its rapacious agents. The Govern- 
ment at home could give little heed to the com- 
plaints of the people here. They were engaged in 
a strife for the dominion of the seas. Their naval 
heroes, Van Tromp and De Ruyter, were engaged 
in battling the fleets of the Commonwealth of Eng- 
land, and of the ungrateful Charles, whom they had 
protected in his exile. 

The Belgian lion, emblemized in their geography 
with his jaws upon the very heart of France and 
his tail sweeping the provinces of the Zuyder Zee, 
was then holding at bay the lion and the unicorn of 
Britain. 

By their neglect they lost their dominion over 
this country forever. The people, chagrined at 
their abandonment, soon became reconciled to the 
new dynasty, and even the last of the Dutch Gov- 
ernors became a subject of the British crown. But 
in our Revolution, as if to atone for its former fault, 
the Dutch Republic was the first to follow France 
in acknowledging our independence, while yet the 
contest was undecided. She had failed us. when 
she might have profited by her succor, but she 
nobly sustained us in our greatest need, when we 
could no longer be of service to her. She encour- 



17 

aged and supported our drooping cause, and nerved 
the arms of the patriots to further exertion, until, 
finally, we took our position co-equal with herself 
in the family of nations. For three quarters of a 
century our relations of peace and friendship have 
been undisturbed, and nought but the ordinary 
claims of commerce have engaged the attention of 
the two countries. 

I do not, therefore, expect that the matters with 
which T will be charged will be of such interest as 
to attract general attention ; but 1 will endeavor so 
to represent the country, as to prove that the con- 
fidence of the Government in me has not been mis- 
placed, and that your partiality, my friends and 
neighbors, has not been unworthily bestowed. 
While T regard the distinction which 1 have re- 
ceived at the hands of the President, as receiving- 
additional honor from the favor with which you 
have received it, I will regard his approval of my 
labors, when I shall have surrendered my trust, as 
a most fortunate event, if they shall meet yours 
also. 

I esteem it a happy circumstance, that from here, 
where first the skipper Hudson navigated a Euro- 
pean craft, and where were laid the foundations of 
the New Netherlancl, I will be able to carry to 
Fatherland the kind remembrances of the children. 
I will bear testimony that the same habits of indus- 
try, the same high sense of commercial honor, and 
the same unconquerable love of liberty which dis- 
tinguished their fathers, characterize their descend- 
ants, 

3 



IS 

With a heart overflowing with thankfuhiess for 
your cordial sympathy, and Avith most fervent pray- 
ers for your individual happiness, I bid you fare- 
well. 

The next toast was — 

" The Senate of the United States — a true Congress of the nation, 
where imperial sovereignties meet on equal footing, for the peaceful 
adjustment of all questions of policy, of riglit, and of national honor." 

The President observed that it was expected 
that the Hon. Zachary Chandler would have been 
present to respond to this toast, but he had been 
unavoidably detained. 

The next toast was — 

" The House of Representatives of the United States — si)eaking the 
voice of the people, and reflecting every movement of the great 
fountain of power." 

Hon. John Cochrane was called upon to respond, 
and spoke as follows: — 

Mr. President — I am much at a loss for the rea- 
son which prompts the call for me to respond to the 
toast just drunk. 

I arise from the midst of my colleagues to that 
Congress you applaud, and feel great diffidence in 
speaking to a subject they are so much better quali- 
fied to discuss than I am. Yet, aware that physical 
afflictions temporarily disqualify them for speaking, 
I undertake for their relief what I should decline 
as a distinction. Your toast refers to the faithful 
reflection, hj the House of Representatives, of the 
popular opinion. Yes, sir; they Avho have trod 



19 

the rugged path ol' polities can speak advisedly of 
the close observance, by the Representative in Con- 
gress, of the fluctuations of pul)lic sentiment. They 
are his political guide ; to mistake them is political 
error, and to disregard them is political death. T 
think it must be clear to those familiar with the 
hopes and fears which beset the modern politician, 
that there is no danger of the opinions of the peo- 
ple being either misunderstood or opposed by the 
aspiring Legislators who constitute the House of 
Representatives. (Laughter.) However illustra- 
tive the fact may be, of the care with which the 
candidate for popular favor studies the popular 
mind, it has a more grave significance. In it is to 
be found the greatest security to a constituency 
against misrepresentation. The doctrine, I believe, 
has come to be generally accepted, that the repre- 
sentative is bound to observe the opinions of his 
constituents on all subjects of political importance, 
and to enforce them by his efforts, and to support 
them with his vote. That he should be suftered to 
act in this connection, regardless of the general 
sense, would involve the most alarming conse- 
quences attendant upon the violation of a public 
trust. As special agent, to whom has been dele- 
gated certain specific powers, he can no more ex- 
ceed them than can the ambassador transcend his 
instructions. The breath of his life is the popular 
voice, and to the note which it sounds should his 
be trained. 

The field of research which the toast indicates 
cannot be occupied on an occasion like this. Too 



20 

many and important are the considerations whicli 
belong to it, to be pressed into the compass of an 
after-dinner speech. All that I can hope to attain 
must necessarily be but an imperfect and faint 
sketch of the growth and office of popular repre- 
sentation. A very general mistake obtains in the 
comparisons frequently run between the modern 
Republic and the ancient Democracy. The colle- 
gian, fresh from his classics, sees in his own Repub- 
lic the reproduced glories of Athens and Rome. 
We all are apt to confound the deliberative bodies, 
which characterize American institutions, with the 
popular assemblages which presided over the liber- 
ties of Greece. While the measure of general 
liberty enjoyed by each body is not unequal, its 
relative permanency is, without doubt, qualified by 
the method of attaining it by each. The patriot- 
ism of the Greek was stimulated by his personal 
assistance at the deliberations of the Pnyx. His 
interests were absorbed by the state questions sub- 
mitted to his decision. As he listened and judged, 
war or peace was determined, treaties were made 
or refused, nations were accepted or crushed. The 
war which he declared in the council, he conducted 
in the field; the peace which he chose, he person- 
ally enforced ; the nation which he regarded, he 
visited, and he invaded that which he doomed. It 
was the government of the people in person — that 
which prevailed on the continent of Greece. The 
arts flourished, eloquence was cherished, and all that 
could administer to military ardor was fostered and 
encouraged. These contributed to the national glory, 
and the national glory was the glory of every citizen. 



21 

Pericles was emblazoned with the trophies of Athens, 
and the humblest Greek was clothed with the glory 
of Pericles. There was no private pursuit, no do- 
mestic life, for the citizen. The glory of the acts 
of life he appropriated, but of their usefulness he 
was ignorant. The consequence was inevitable. 
His liberty was as evanescent as it was attractive. 
It lacked the basis of the individual virtues requi- 
site to its endurance, and, with the first danger, it 
sank into night. But the glories with which it was 
decorated survive. The arts and the refinements, 
the patriotism and the genius, of Greece are still 
the admiration of the world ; her liberties were the 
prey of her weakness many centuries ago. Nor, can 
more be declared of that colossal government, which 
overshadowed the world, and made all the world 
Rome. The genius of her councils was conquest, 
and the instrument she employed was the people. 
Assuredly were the appointments of freedom pro- 
cured and guarded with the jealousy of freemen. 
But they served but to invigorate the armies with 
which she subdued nations ; they were employed 
for the protection of the citizen in a brief and fitful 
life of interior liberty, soon to be overwhelmed by 
those very cohorts, in whose strength lay the glory 
of Republican Rome, and the security of the 
Roman citizen. There was no real liberty enjoyed 
in the Roman Republic as in Greece ; its object 
was the glory of the Government, rather than the 
happiness of the people. So, we read of her con- 
quests, of her firmness, of her virtues and her lite- 
rature, but never of the prosperity of her people. 
•She fell, as all must and ever will fall, whose foun- 



22 

dations do not rest on the prosperity of the people, 
— as all must and ever will fall who do not seek 
their own glory in the elevation of the masses. The 
storm swept over Rome and her dependencies. 
Night fell upon Europe Away, in the dim depths 
of German forests, was at length perceived the faint 
efforts of the coming day. Their rude natives had 
not been educated to the glories of the antique. 
They were neither refined by classic art, nor civil- 
ized to the standard of Roman liberty ; but they 
were instinct with a just appreciation of human 
rights. The glory which their deeds reflected upon 
their rulers was little worth, if it did not secure the 
rights, when establishing the power of the people. 
While engaged with the first consideration — the 
prosperity of their private relations — they delegated 
to the wisdom of their associates the care of the 
public good. The inconvenience of numbers, in 
the constitution of popular assemblages, conduced 
to the delegation of popular powers, and so, in 
the Witennagemote of the German forest, are we 
taught to look for the earliest seed of that repre- 
sentative liberty which blesses this land. Its strug- 
gle into life, however, has not been unattended by 
vicissitude and danger. The contests Avhich troub- 
led Europe at the downMl of the Roman Empire 
shook fearfully the recesses of the ancient Germania 
— with a terrible impetus her wild tribes swayed ; 
nor was it till after the calm of exhaustion, that, 
during the middle ages, the representative principle 
began again to assert for itself the protectorate of 
human rights. Preparatory steps had to be taken, 
however, before this assertion could be heard. The 



23 

people were to be rescued from the low social scale 
in which want and poverty had placed thein. The 
exigencies to which the Crusades had reduced the 
powerful barons engaged in them, compelled a re- 
course for relief to the patient accumulations of the 
citizen. Accompanying such applications came the 
impetus given to industry, Ijy the demands of a re- 
viving commerce. The beneficial effects were first 
felt by the Italian cities. Venice, Yerona, Genoa, 
acquired wealth, representation, liberty ! The cities 
of Lombardy soon after imitated their example. The 
enjoyment of wealth furnished the means of asserting 
independence. Soon the spirit of popular freedom 
passed the l^ounds of private security, and individual 
considerations, for the more public theatre of national 
freedom. The genial and liberalizing influences 
of commerce were sought for. Luljec, Cologne, 
Brunswick and Dantzic combined for the common 
liberty, and, together with eighty other cities, 
formed that cele])rated Ilanscatic League which 
extended a commercial republic through Europe. 
Thus were the incipient approaches made towards 
that great principle of popular representation, which 
is the l)urdon of the toast you have drunk. The 
peculiar feature of this period consisted in the care- 
ful attention of the burgher to the pursuits of pri- 
vate life, and the culture of individual virtues, com- 
bined with the potency of his voice, in a represen- 
tative capacity, in tlie puljlic councils. But it was 
reserved for the united provinces of tlie Netherlands 
to develop, against bitter civil and religious oppres- 
sion, the representative principle to its just propor- 
tions. The severity of S])anisli tyranny had prob- 



24 

ably been an inadequate cause of their rebellion, 
had not a fierce religious persecution been added. 
The combination was sufficient to produce a war, 
in which the civil and religious liberty of the citi- 
zen was successfully maintained. Europe saAV the 
result, and the lovers of constitutional liberty all 
over the world have faithfully adhered to an ex- 
ample which, thus far, has furnished to man the only 
institutions which successfully establish and protect 
his rights. It is unnecessary, Mr. President, that 1 
should pursue further this theme. You can readily 
perceive how full of interest and information its dis- 
cussion must be. The march of constitutional liberty 
has indeed been, from distant ages, in perilous ways 
down to the present. Hardly had it been relieved 
of the dangers of general ignorance, ere it was im- 
perilled by the confederated powers of local and 
national tyrannies. Happily rescued from these, 
and the combined powers of superstition and cleri- 
cal oppression bore heavily against it. Yet has it 
survived. Founded upon the inalienable right of 
representative legislation, from century to century 
has it moved steadily along the path of human pro- 
gress, armed with the destinies and protecting the 
riffhts of the race. It is to be observed, that the 
liberty of the world of the Nineteenth Century does 
not consist in the liberty which accumulates gran- 
deur upon the ruler and glory upon the nation. 
This was the liberty of the ancient world—of the 
Greek and the Roman. The liberty of to-day is 
that which dwells with the citizen in his workshop, 
with the man at his fireside ; which bestows itself 
upon his pursuits to utilize them, and upon his 



25 

thoughts to ennoble them ; and ^Yhich too, while 
thus constructing broadly the basis of permanency 
and duration, secures to every individual his proper 
legislative iunetion, by ortlaining forever his right 
of representntion. This, j\lr. President, is con- 
stitutional liberty. You have, therefore, done well 
to remember, on this occasion, the House of Repre- 
sentatives of tlie United States. It is the fortress of 
Our Kberty; while it stands, our li'eedom will stand; 
when it fells, the hope of the world will be extin- 
guished. Guardian of the people's rights, may its 
purity never suffer. Representative of the people's 
thoughts, may it never reflect them improperly. 

The next toast was — 

"Tlie City of New York — representing in tier vast population every 
language and country of the earth; closely connected by commercial 
ties, and seeking always amicable infercourse with all nations, she 
regards with a peculiar interest a friendly mission to that state to 
which she owes her origin." 

Hon. Fernando Wood, Mayor of New York, was 
called upon to "respond. He spoke as follows: — 
Mr. President and Gentlemen — This is a most unex- 
pected call, and it is not the first time I have felt 
my inability to represent the City of New York. 1 
will say, however, that it gives me personally a 
great deal of pleasure to be present upon this occa- 
sion, and to say for New York, that she responds, 
so far as I am capable and have authority to speak 
for her, fully to the sentiments which have been 
expressed here to-night, in honor of your distin- 
guished fellow-citizen. (Applause.) New York 
congratulates her sister of Brooklyn upon this pro- 



26 

motion, if it be promotion, of her distinguished son. 
She congratiilates the Administration upon its judg- 
ment, upon its discretion, in the selection of her 
Minister, and she congratulates the whole country, 
that by him the interests of the Union will never be 
betrayed — its flag will never be dishonored. (Re- 
newed applause.) Mr. President, this sentiment 
which you have just drunk says that New York 
must regard with a peculiar interest a missioli to 
that State from whence she derives her origin. Sir, 
this sentiment is as truthful as it is beautifully and 
forcibly expressed. 

"New York must ever regard — dependent as she 
is upon friendly relations with the whole world — 
all peaceful and friendly missions, the harbingers 
and safe-guards of commerce ; but, sir, in this case 
she cannot forget that Holland was her ancient 
mother. She cannot forget that she was once New 
Amsterdam, and that New Ajiisterdam owes its 
origin, its foundation, to the enterprise, the energy 
and industry of the sons of Holland, " .Therefore, 
sir, it is that New York entertains a regard for Hol- 
land ; and I may say, in passing, that much of her 
prosperity is owing to that industry, to those strong 
principles of probity and commercial integrity, 
which have, from the establishment of the Govern- 
ment of the Netherlands, characterized her people 
at home and abroad, in her colonies and elsewhere. 
It is a singular fact, that at this present time some 
of the provisions of the orignal Dutch code (if I 
may be allowed the expression) of our city are 
now in existence, almost letter for letter, as they 



27 

were known at the time ol" the conquest of New 
Amsterdam by the British Government. There 
have been transmitted through tlic two centuries 
which have intervened many provisions of local 
government, many views of local municipal 
independence, many customs and practices, and 
references to the administration of the Government, 
which are still referred to occasionally by public 
officers, regarding the City of New York, and are 
those most easily enforced, and with the present 
population of New York, so little Dutch as it is, are 
those most generally acquiesced in. 

Mr. President, there is one feature of this even- 
ing's entertainment that to nie is exceedingly grati- 
fying. It is gratifying to find so large a collection 
of persons, brought together, not by any party or 
political consideration, to do honor and respect to 
a gentleman who has been one of the most promi- 
nent, as "well as the most distinguished members, of 
a political party. I say it is gratifying to see this 
toleration, to find that here, without reference to 
the political or religious feelings of any man, you 
have met to do honor to a distinguished fellow- 
citizen. It is not to promote his political advance- 
ment, or to advocate or maintain the doctrines of a 
party, or a faction, or a section, or to carry out any 
scheme or enterprise of personal aggrandizement, 
that you are here ; but to pay that homage due to a 
fellow-citizen who has grown up among you, Avhose 
life has been one of probity, and who, from his pure 
personal character and the distinguished positions 
which the favoritism of his fellow-citizens have 



2S 

conferred upon him, — you are here ; in short, to pay 
that respect which his merit and genius demand. 
(Loud applause.) 

In conclusion, gentlemen, I can only say that I 
can condole with you upon the loss you have to meet 
with. Well do I know the value of an enterprising 
public citizen. Well do I know, from experience 
in the position Avhich I have the honor to hold, 
the fact, that one public spirited, energetic, enter- 
prising private man, who commands the public con- 
fidence, is most useful, not only in developing the 
mechanical, the financial or commercial advantages 
of a city, but in standing by the public officers in 
enforcing the laws, and maintaining the preserva- 
tion of the public peace. Therefore it is, that 
knowing as I know, and appreciating as T appreci- 
ate, from many years acquaintance, the gentleman 
we are about to lose — I know, if it be his gain to 
go abroad, it is your loss. You will feel the loss of 
his counsels, the loss of his sage advice, his indus- 
try, his assiduity, his vast experience in public 
affairs, particularly in reference to the City of 
Brooklyn. All I can say to you and to him is, that 
wherever he goes, not only the hearts of the people 
of Brooklyn will be Avith him, and w\atch over him, 
so far as they have the power, but I speak for the 
City of New York, when I say thexe is not a heart 
but will beat in unison with your own. 

Mr. Wood sat down amid peals of deafening 
applause. 



29 

Tlie next toast was — 

" The City of Brooklyn — tlio little Dutch hnnilot i)]anted on ijie 
edge of Nassau Island, now sends from Ikt two hundred thousand 
citizens, to the Fatherland, a KepTcscntative of thirty millions of 
people." 

^Iayou Powkll was called upon to respond. He 
said — Mr. Chairman, [ discover tlie faces of many 
citizens of Brooklyn, and those not very far ad- 
vanced in the vale of years, who remember the City 
of Brooklyn when she was little better than the 
little Dutch hamlet spoken of in the toast — when 
the Village of Brooklyn was an insignificant place. 
I think that you, with me, must feel a pride when 
we traverse our streets, and see the monuments of 
the industry of our people — the works of art, the 
extent of accommodations in the shape of railroads, 
and all the other appliances that go to make up a 
great and l)eautiful city : I say we must feel a 
pride that we are the residents of so fair an inheri- 
tance. I behold around me gentlemen by whose 
industry, energy and enterprise these great changes 
have been brought about, yet, as I said in the be- 
ginning of my remarks, they are not far advanced in 
the vale of years. We have sprung from a village to a 
large and populous city; and yet the young men who 
are sitting around this board are among the foun- 
ders of this prosperity. Among the most energetic, 
the most useful, and most tried of those Avho laid 
the foundation of this prosperity, is the gentleman 
who has been called to act in another sphere of life ; 
and I think when he is gone, when his services are 
lost to the associations and institutions and organi- 
zations from which have sprung the present pros- 



• 80 

perity of Brooklyn, he will be missed more than we 
can at present conceive. As you arc all aware, he 
has occupied in this city a leading position in all 
public enterprises, and he at present occupies that 
same position ; and it has always been a matter of 
surprise to me, that the citizens have not risen ea 
masse, and refused to allow him to depart on this 
mission. In the language of the little song, fre- 
quently heard in our parlors, 

" We will mif^s liim at home." 

I remember the gentleman, in whose honor we 
have met to-night, in the commencement of his 
career as a politician, and I suppose, in some in- 
stances, we might have been regarded as rivals ; 
but I am very glad, at the present time, to say, 
that there is no man who rejoices more profoundly 
at his success thftn the humble individual who now 
addresses you. 

Mayor Powell resumed his seat amid repeated 
plaudits. 

The next toast was — 

" The Judiciary — its salutary authority rests upon its independ- 
eace, and will contiuue so loug as it administers the law alike 
unseduced by the influences of jiower, and unterrified by popular 
clamor." 

Judge Parker, of Albany, being called from 
different parts of the room, rose and spoke as 
follows : 

I hardly know, Mr. Chairman, why I should be 
expected to respond in behalf of the Judiciary, 



31 

when there is a gentleman sitting by my side, who 
now belongs to that department of the government, 
and who is so much better qualified than myself to 
take a Birdseye view of tlie subject. ])ut, though 
my connexion with tlie bencli has ceased, I shall 
always be ready to express my thanks for a com- 
plimentary allusion to those Avho serve in that 
laborious and ill-requited, but most important 
branch of the public service. 

I concur, fully, Mr. Chairman, in the sentiment 
you have just read. Our judiciary is distinguished 
no less for its integrity, than for its learning, and 
is entitled to our sincere respect. It may some- 
times happen that we may differ from it in its inter- 
pretation or application of the law ; but such 
difference of opinion warrants no imputation either 
upon its learning, integrity or ability. Upon the 
judiciary of the general government, is devolved 
the high duty of interpreting the Federal Constitu- 
tion, and of deciding between the States of this 
wide-spread confederacy, as well as between indi- 
viduals of distant localities and differing prejudices. 
Without a cheerful acquiescence in the decisions 
of that high tribunal, we can hardly hope for a 
continuance of a system of government combining 
so many diverse elements as our own. In our 
state government also, most important and delicate 
duties are devolved ippon the judiciary. First 
among these, is that of deciding upon the constitu- 
tionality of a statute — a duty of frequent recurrence 
in a state so cliaracterizcd as ours by hasty legislation. 
The Courts are thus uiade the sliield to pi'otect the 



32 

citizen against unwarranted legislative action. If a 
statute is in conflict with the Constitution, under the 
decision of the Courts it will be inoperative and 
void. If not in conflict, but otherwise objection- 
able, the remedy is by repeal, and if the Constitution 
as interpreted is defective, the people have -the 
power to amend it. In a country where the widest 
latitude of discussion exists, it is expected that the 
decisions of the judiciary, as well as the acts of all 
other departments of the government, will be 
freely canvassed, and in some cases closely criticised. 
But upon these subjects, as well as upon all others, 
of public interest, there should be forbearance, 
respect for the opinion of others, and a sincere 
desire to promote the public good. 

There are times, and I regret that they do not 
occur more frequently, when partisan animosities 
are laid aside, when the kindlier feelino's of our 
nature triumph, and when all seem wilUng to unite 
in some act of patriotism, of duty, or of friendship ; 
and such, Mr. Chairman, is the noble example set 
by this large assemblage upon the present occasion. 
Such a gathering as this is, without distinction of 
party, to do honor to your distinguished guest, 
about to represent this country at a foreign Court, 
is a triumph of justice and of liberality of senti- 
ment over partisan prejudice, and cannot fail to 
exert a happy influence throughout our land. 

The occasion, j\Ir. Chairman, is certainly one of 
great interest. It was eminently proper that our 
Representative at the Court of the Netherlands 



33 

should be fitted for his high trust, as he is, by a 
thorough knowledge of the language and literature 
of the country to which he is accredited — that he 
should be able to represent, as he will most faith- 
fully, the kind feeling towards that country which 
exists throughout the whole extent of our land, 
and particularly among the large portion of our 
population that is of Dutch descent. In our people 
are combined the best elements of all the European 
races. The richest blood of each flows in our veins. 
The ready wit and generous heart of the Celt — the 
indomitable and self confident spirit of the Anglo- 
Saxon, and the incorruptible integrity and plodding 
industry of the Hollander, are by no means among 
the least valuable qualities of our mixed race, which, 
improved by these best selections from the choicest 
races of the Old World and combining their excel- 
lences, will yet demonstrate the full extent of its 
capabilities and its power. 

Mr. Chairman, I can claim the honor of no Dutch 
blood in my own veins, but I should be untrue to 
myself and to my own ancestry, if I failed to express 
my gratitude to that country which received and 
sheltered our Puritan fathers before they sought an 
abiding place on this side of the Atlantic — if I 
failed to acknowledge our many obligations as a 
nation to that same country, and to admire the 
virtues which distinguish its inhabitants. We can 
never cease to wonder at the spectacle of a country 
rescued from the sea by the industry and perse- 
verence of its people. Holland, wnth its thousand 
windmills all trained to daily toil, — its lakes pumped 
dry and converted into farms, rewarding an hun- 



34 

dred fold, the labors of the husbandman — its cities, 
its universities, its canals and its commerce, — who 
that has seen it, can ever forget it or cease to won- 
der at the magic change that industry has there 
accomplished ? Who that has visited the village 
of Brock will fail to award the palm for neatness 
to the Dutch housewife ? And who can ever cease 
to admire the patriotism of a people ready to tear 
open their dykes and surrender their beautiful 
country again to the dominion of the sea, rather 
than submit to be conquered by a foreign invader ? 
We may Avell be proud that we are bound to such 
a country by ties of blood and affection, and that 
the virtues of the people of the parent land are 
perpetuated here among their posterity. 

I am proud, Mr. Chairman, to stand here to-night, 
as the representative of that ancient City, the 
Capital of our State, originally settled by the Hol- 
landers, and still, to a great extent, occupied by 
their worthy descendants — the city of the Bleeck- 
ers, and Lansings, and Gansevoorts — the Yan 
Rensselaers and Van Vechtens and Van Schaicks — 
the Pruyns and Ten Eycks and Ten Broecks ; and 
I rejoice that the gentleman who has been selected 
to represent them at the fjither-land, Avhile he Avill 
seek to preserve the most amicable national rela- 
tions, will also strive to increase the mutual respect 
and good will, which should always subsist between 
the people of the two countries. 

In conclusion, I beg leave, sir, to propose the 
following toast: — 

" The Citizens of Brooklyn — Distinguished alike for their enter- 
prise, their justice and their liberality of sentiment." 



Judge BiRDSEYE, being also called upon, spoke 
as follows : — 

Mr. President : — It lias pleased my eloquent and 
learned friend, who has just taken his seat, to allude 
to names. Having set the example, he cannot 
complain if I follow it. While he was speaking, 
there occurred to my mind, in spite of myself, a 
little verse in regard to one Counsellor Parker. 
To what particular Counsellor of that name it 
referred, I am not able positively to state. I had 
not the pleasure of knowing my good friend who 
sits here at my right hand, when he was simply 
Counsellor Parker. My acquaintance with him 
began some years later, when from being a Coun- 
sellor he had risen to the Bench, and was illustrating 
by his life the toast to which he has just responded 
so eloquently. I was then just commencing the 
practice of my profession, and tried, as I well 
recollect, my first case before him. But, from what 
I then saw, and have ever since seen, I am disposed 
to think the song was not made about him, but of 
some other excellent Counsellor belonging to the 
family of Parkers. You, sir, and all who have 
heard him, will be able to judge of the applicability 
of the lines to him, when you hear them. They 
run, sir, somewhat in this wise : 

"Counsellor Parker made that darker, 
Which was dark enough without ; 
Counsellor Cook cited his book, 
And the Judge remarked, ' I doubt.' " 

I shall not attempt to state by what law ; not of 
association, but rather of the very reverse ; of con- 



36 

trast and dissimilarity, this description should have 
recurred to my mind. I can only put the question 
to him. If he cannot throw light upon it, it will 
be the first time I have ever known him to discuss 
a point without making it clearer. 

But, sir, owing, as I am conscious I do, the 
honor of being called upon on this occasion to the 
accident of my position, 1 shall endeavor to put 
in practice some of the lessons learned during my 
brief experience on the bench. One is, that it is 
the duty of the Judge rather to be listener than a 
speaker. It is very rare, however, that the per- 
formance of that duty is as pleasing as it has been 
this evening. And it is to be regretted that, just 
when the duty is the pleasantest, I am compelled 
to cease the observance of it, and become a tres- 
passer on your patience. But, I shall be brief, for 
I have also learned on the bench that the shortest 
speeches are, in general, not only the most pleasing, 
but the most effective. 

But there is another lesson which the Judge, 
especially if he be a young Judge, must learn. 
When a just decision has been rendered, and a 
good reason for it given by the presiding Judge, 
the other members of the Court should be satisfied 
with concurring both in the result and the reasoning. 

So, sir, I may content myself with concurring, 
as I most heartily do, in the eloquent tribute which 
has just been paid to the independence of the 
Judiciary. 

But, sir, if I desired to say more than my friend 
has said on that subject, I need but to mention the 



iianies of those euiiiicuL Judges in the State and 
the Nation, whose whole lives were but a continued 
illustration of wliat yonr toast describes : — the 
names of Marshall and Washington, and Livingston 
and Thompson, of Kent and Spencer, and Van 
Ness and ]\Iarcy, and many others of the honored 
dead ; not to mention the equally honorable names 
of many others who happily yet survive. 

The lives and labors of such men have secured 
the enlightened, fearless and impartial administra- 
tion of justice. They have vindicated public 
justice, and awarded to crime the punishment it 
merited. They have guarded the property, the 
character, the liberty and the life of the citizen. 
And in the public confidence and respect which 
they and their associates obtained and preserved, 
you may find an explanation of the real powers of 
the Judiciary, and a guaranty of their continuance. 

By following in their footsteps, and emulating 
their example, may the integrity, the impartiality 
and the independence of the Judiciary be best 
preserved. For it should never be forgotten that 
the character of the Court, and to no small extent, 
of the law which it administers, takes its hue from 
the individual character of the Judge who presides. 
So long as he is quick and clear to perceive what 
is just and true, and firm of will to pursue that, so 
long will he command, for he will deserve, the un- 
shaken confidence of his fellow citizens. In this 
latter quality, the fixedness of purpose to do what 
is true and right, unswerved by passion or prejudice, 
not shrinking through fear or fiivor, not knowing 



38 

any obligation so sacred as that of duty, nor any 
pleasure so sweet as that of duty fulfilled, is found 
the crowning excellence of the judicial character. 
There are many minds that are clear enough and 
strong enough for the discharge of all the duties 
of the Bench, however delicate or responsible. 
But who would select for the performance of those 
duties the greatest human intellect, if confi.dence 
were lacking in the uprightness of motive, and the 
resoluteness of purpose which were to impel and 
control it. 

The Bench will be recruited hereafter, sir, as it 
has been hitherto, from the ranks of the Bar. And 
in the learning, the firmness and the integrity of 
the Bar, is another great guarantee for the inde- 
pendence and impartiality of the bench. 

The absence, even for a limited period, and for 
sufficient reasons, of such a lawyer from our Courts, 
is to be regretted. While others present have 
spoken of our honored guest, as the kind friend, 
the good neighbor, the public spirited citizen, the 
zealous promoter of every enterprise which tended 
to the growth and prosperity of our City, it re- 
mains for me to speak of him, as the good lawyer 
and the able advocate, prompt to defend every just 
right of his client, ready and correct in his learn- 
ing, never speaking but to instruct, and while 
asking nothing wrong, giving up nothing that is 
right. 

The departure of such a man, I do, as I properly 
may, regret. But his absence will, I trust, be but 



39 

temporary. He goes to return a<^ain, with an en- 
larged experience, a Avider knowledge of mankind, 
and increased capacities for usefulness. 

The first and greatest of poets, in describing the 
character of his wisest hero, gives j^rominence to 
the fact that lie had visited the cities of many 
nations, and studied their cliaracters. 

Our friend is departing, with the good wishes of 
us all, to do the same. I know few men better 
fitted to profit by the experience. 

And when he shall return, laden with its fruits, 
Avith his powers expanded and invigorated, and 
his affection for home and friends made warmer 
and deeper by his wanderings : — then, sir, in the 
exercise of his profession ; in the part which, as a 
lawyer, he may take in the administration of justice, 
he may find ample and fit employment for his 
loftiest energies. 

I beg leave, in conclusion, to propose the follow- 
ing sentiment : 

"The Return of onr Friend — We send hiui fortli witli pride; we 
shall welcome him home again with pleasure." 

The next toast was — 

" The 01(1 :uul New Netherlands. — We hail with that grave compla- 
cency which becomes our Dutch descent, the continuance of amicable 
relations between tliose two great kindred commonwealths." 

The Hon. Gulian C. VERrLANCK replied on the 
call of the chair: — - 

He observed that he presumed that he owed the 
honor of l)eing s})ecially invited to respond to this 



40 

toast to his Holland name and blood, and to his 
representing on this occasion the St. Nicholas 
Society of New York, as one of its former Presi- 
dents, The subject itself was one which filled his 
mind and Avarmed his heart, and he had much more 
to say upon it, than the time and the claims of 
others would now permit him to express. He con- 
gratulated the Union and the State of New York, 
as well as the beautiful city in which we were 
assembled, on the selection of this favorite son of 
Brooklyn, aa the Diplomatic Representative of the 
United States to the Fatherland of so many of us; 
for he was one eminently fitted to bear to that old 
Fatherland, the warm good wishes, the cordial 
sympathies of hundreds of thousands — -nay, it was 
no exaggeration to say, even millions of American 
citizens who boast of the old blood of Holland, and 
feel a grateful sense of the numerous benefits, 
political, individual and intellectual, which Holland 
has bestowed upon these United States, We have 
no occasion to undervalue those who have of late 
years represented our Government at the Hague; 
for the public interest and national honor have been 
safe in their hands; but still, with the exception of 
the late excellent and honored Harmanus Bleecker, 
they were not specially fitted to convey the sym- 
pathies and sentiments of the sons of Holland on 
this side of the Atlantic, to tlieir cousins in Europe, 
It was time, then, — to borrow an expressive phrase 
of Indian diplomacy, often used by the orators of 
the Six Nations in their negotiations with our old 
Governors, — it was "time to brighten the chain 
of friendship." 



41 

The President's judicious selection for this station 
of one so well fitted by his early and local associa- 
tions, and his knowledge of the language, history 
and literature of Holland, will brighten this chain, 
so that, as the Indian diplomatists sometimes said, 
"it will shine like silver." 

I have often been surprised, said Mr. V. to find 
that men high in position in Holland, even some- 
times the diplomatic representatives of her govern- 
ment, were hardly aware how widely diffused are 
the blood and lineage of the Netherlands through- 
out our Union, and that they scarcely knew that 
the language of Holland had been preserved in 
familiar use to the third and fourth, and even the 
ninth and tenth generation from the original settlers 
of the banks of the Hudson. 

About five years ago, as many here will remem- 
ber, the old tri-coloured flag of Holland floated in 
our harbor, over a noble frigate, admirably equip- 
ped and, I must add, admirably oflicered. The 
St. Nicholas Society of New York entertained 
those officers at a banquet as brilliant as the 
luxury of New York could make it, and more bril- 
liant from the presence and participation of many 
distinguished persons. Some remarks of my own 
which were called forth by the occasion, excited no 
little surprise and even doubt, when I said that the 
ancient blood of the United Netherlands had, on 
this side of the Atlantic, nearly or quite as many 
descendants as owned the allegiance of the Mother 
country in Europe. This may seem a wild exagge- 
ration, yet the comparison of regular tables of our 



42 

several censuses National or State taken every ten 
and five years, with the less precise, but yet suffi- 
ciently reliable tables of our colonial population, 
will show the correctness of this assertion. The 
magnitude and the rate of this increase are easily 
explained by the arithmetical puzzle which per- 
plexes school boys, in the problem of one shilling for 
the first nail in the horse's shoes, two for the second, 
and so doubling to the last, when it swells to a 
startling amount. Thus it was with the ten or 
twelve thousand Dutch colonists of New York and 
New Jersey, who became British subjects in 1664. 
These, with some additions, when William of 
Orange became William III. of England, and some 
more from time to time afterwards, had at the date 
of the Declaration of Independence, one hundred 
and twelve years after, swelled to a majority, pro- 
bly — certainly to the most numerous race in two 
of the original Thirteen United States. The same 
rate (at least) of progression has doubtless gone 
on, with this thriving and industrious race, as 
amongst their neighbors, so that they, like their 
Yankee neighbors, have swarmed all over our 
continent, making the names, the usages, the 
traditions and even the vestiges of the language 
of Holland familiar in Iowa and Wisconsin, and 
the still further West. Thus it is no exagger- 
ation at all to say, that we of Dutch descent, — 
many indeed not of pure Dutch blood, but mixed 
with other races to the great advantage of both, 
as has just been eloquently shown (by Judge 
Parker) — are fast approaching to, if we have 
not already outnumbered, the present census of 



43 

the Kingdom of Holland. I should trespass too 
much on your patience, if I were to expatiate (as 
I am tempted to do,) on our obligations to the 
venerable Fatherland in our civil policy, and in 
our intellectual acquisitions, for these are subjects 
familiar to many about me. 

Thence it was that we learned the value of local 
municipal institutions, combined with provincial or 
State sovereignties, all united in the stability, dig- 
nity and power of a Federative Government. I 
could show the evidence of other obligations, not 
less marked, in our revolutionary history, in our 
diplomacy, in the details of our frame of govern- 
ment. But the great lesson of all was that, which, 
by j^recept and example, taught us to combine the 
freedom and adaptation of local administration with 
the energy and dignity of a national existence. 
It was this principle which the old States of the 
United Netherlands felt to be the source of their 
independence, and their internal prosperity, amidst 
the mighty and hostile nations around them. This 
principle they embodied in their ancient national 
motto, '■'•Eendraglit Maakt MagliV'' "Union makes 
strength." That is the common and the dictionary 
translation of the motto, but to the ear of an old 
fashioned Dutchman it was expressive of something 
stronger and more vivid than this mere abstraction 
however wise and true. Their language, though 
it is thought not "euphonious," is peculiarly ex- 
pressive and often picturesque, if the phrase may 
be allowed. It preserves in its compounds and 
derivatives, the natural symbol or figure under 



44 

which abstract ideas were originally represented, 
resembling, in this respect, the ancient Greek and 
the modern German. The Eendraglit expresses 
the scriptural idea of "bearing one another's bur- 
dens," and the spirit may be well given by para- 
phrasing it in our colloquial phrase of " a puTL al- 
together ^ Those who first applied it in its national 
sense, carried out fully the spirit of our own good 
idiomatic phrase and made it for many a year " a 
long pull, and a strong pull, and a pull altogether." 

The other motto which you have before you, in 
the decorations of this hall, emblazoned with the 
lion-supported flag of the Netherlands, has also 
another forcible meaning, and especially so in con- 
nexion with the other national motto. It is, "Je 
Maintiendraiy This was the old armorial bearing 
of the house of Orange, and perhaps had originally 
only a feudal meaning of a stern resolve to main- 
tain the rights and honor of the Prince who bore 
it. But it acquired a nobler and broader sense 
under the first and greatest of the Stadtholders, 
the elder William of Orange — the national hero of 
Holland, the Washington of the Seven United 
Provinces ; for there is a very remarkable resem- 
blance between these two great men, in their 
history, their achievements and their personal 
character, in their solid and unpretending virtues 
and talents, in the slow but sure and powerful 
operation of their minds, in their Avisdom, their 
practical sagacity, their resolute perseverance, their 
power of converting even defeat into eventual 
victory, and making the loss of a battle conduce in 



40 

its rcsuUs to the triiim[)li of their cause. The 
resembhincc extended even to secondary personal 
qualities and peculiarities, sucli as the general 
gravity and silence of both. On his lion-crested 
banner, aiid that of his worthy successors, this 
motto of " Je Maintiendrai," was borne, associated 
with the broad stripes of the Federative Republic, 
and its " Eendra-ght Maakt Maght," and floated 
for many a year, and in many a field of peril and 
of glory. Thus that motto expressed to the whole 
nation the noble idea of a pledge of resolute main- 
tenance of the liberties and honor of their country, 
of their faith and their Union. It was a constant 
pledge (to borrow the poet's words) to 

" Stand by their country's honor fast, 

And nail her colors to the mast." 

This pledge was faithfully observed for many 
glorious years. I have already said that Holland 
has given to our own country many precious 
lessons, but none of the teachings of her history 
are more impressive than those of these two old 
national mottoes — may they sink deep into our 
hearts and be long illustrated in the future history 
of these United States. 

Mr. Verplanck concluded by asking the company 
to join in the following sentiment: — 

''The tAVO national mottoes of the United Netherlands, '■EendragM 
Maakt MaghV and '•Je Maintiendrai^'' both teaching great lessons of 
political wisdom and of patriotic resolution, long and nobly exempli- 
fied in the history of the lion-crested flag of the Netherlands. They 
claim the emulation and generous rivalry of all who honor the Star- 
spangled Banner of our Union." 



40 
The next toast was — 

" Tlie Reformed Clergy — let them not quite despair of us, their 
sadly unreformed people." 

To this sentiment the Rev. Dr. Bethune respond- 
ed, but as his remarks were wholly extemporane- 
ous, they are given, with slight emendations, from 
the report in the Brooklyn Eagle : — 

I need not say, Mr. Chairman, that it gives me 
great pleasure to be present this evening, but may 
be permitted to add, that I have given a proof of 
it from the fact that my being here has involved 
the necessity of travelling some hundred and eighty 
or two hundred miles. (Applause.) My duties in 
some relations of life required me to be absent 
since I received the invitation of the Committee, 
but I did, upon sober reflection, consider it was 
also my duty to be here. I rise to express, in 
common with all who have gone before me, — for 
the idea must be uppermost in the mind, — the 
gratification which every honorable spirit must 
feel in contemplating this assemblage. In the first 
place, to see so many honorable gentlemen from 
abroad, who sympathize with us in this our hour 
of pride and pleasure ; and also to meet so many 
of the solid men of Brooklyn upon an occasion 
which, while it was intended to do honor to our 
eminent fellow-citizen, does equal honor to those 
who projected it. This is not a political meeting, 
and yet, as I look around me, I see the representa- 
tives of every party ; — a clear proof that in this 
land there is a real freedom of opinion, and that 



47 

the man who, like our friend, has never hesitated 
openly to declare his honest sentiments, never lost 
in the estimation of any honest man. There may 
be those who, straining the proprieties of religion to 
asceticism, may frown upon a festival like this ; but 
I remember, sir, in the most beautiful parable of 
sacred writ, which more than all presents the cha- 
racter of our Father who is in Heaven, that when 
the prodigal son returned, his father made a feast 
for him ; and shall we not make a feast when we 
send forth one of our most honored sons upon a 
most honorable mission ? (Applause. ) 

As to the reference to the Reformed Clergy, I 
cannot but say I am called upon to represent them, 
for that term descends with the family of churches 
who carried the banner of the Reformation along- 
side of the Lutheran host on the Continent of Eu- 
rope ; and here it is my privilege to represent not 
only the Reformed Church, but that branch of it 
which is one of the richest legacies which the 
Dutch fathers of this portion of the country have 
left to their children. It is fitting, sir, that some 
blessing should go forth with our friend to that 
honored land from the Church which uses — except 
so far as translation may have altered them — the 
religious forms, and creeds, and sacred songs in 
which the Christian men of Holland have wor- 
shipped since the Reformation. I do not recognize 
all the gentlemen here as belonging to my flock, 
nor do I feel so responsible for them, that I shall 
undertake to defend them altogether from the 
charge of being unreformed. All I can say upon 



48 

this subject is, that, if they will put themselves 
under my care, I will do the best I can to reform 
them, though I certainly do not undertake impossi- 
bilities. 

It may at first seem strange that, when we are 
called to part with a friend so learned, and a pub- 
lic servant so useful, that we make it a season of 
congratulation; but we are obliged to stifle any 
sentiment of personal regret by the thought of the 
honor that has been conferred upon him, and the 
honor which he will certainly render to his country 
when abroad. I say the honor which has been 
conferred upon him ; and, while I speak thus, and 
with all respect to the eminent citizen at the head 
of this Republic, I do not hesitate to say that 
the Administration has been as much honored by 
the appointment as our friend has been. (Ap- 
plause.) 

It is a pleasure to attend on any occasion that 
brings together Brooklyn men. Our great fault 
as Brooklyn men is, that we do not come to- 
gether more. I call every one of you to witness, 
who has been present on any occasion resembling 
this — in a faint degree, for I have never seen such 
an assemblage of Brooklyn men — that, whenever 
we have met and talked of Brooklyn, we have gone 
home with our heads higher, and with a firmer tread, 
and with a stronger sense of love for the city in 
which we live. I cannot, therefore, sympathize in 
the sentiment of our fellow-citizen, that Brooklyn 
may some day be lost in another city. I remember 



49 

once to have heard of a woman who had a quarrel with 
another, and that other called her an "individual," 
when she burst into tears and said, " Have I lived 
so long to be called an individual ?'' And I cannot 
help thinking that, although we have the repre- 
sentatives of two cities before us, some of us must 
feel in the same category. Born in New York, 
and a resident from choice in Brooklyn, honoring 
my native city, and faithful to the city of my adop- 
tion, I have often been happy when making the 
union of affection in my heart, and never until lately 
have I seen a cause of regret or unpleasantness from 
this source.* But here we are, New York and Brook- 
lyn, and I do not know how many other parts, in- 
dividualized into a Metropolitan District. (Laugh- 
ter and applause.) I beg pardon, sir, if I have 
trespassed on the harmony of the meeting by the 
introduction of party politics. But my only excuse 
is, that that is a kind of politics to which I am not 
a party. (Renewed laughter and applause.) 

Our friend goes from Brooklyn, and it is right, 
as I had the honor of saying in my note of accept- 
ance to the Committee who did me the honor of 
inviting me, that on his departure from the home 
of his youth, and* the theatre of his public services, 
he should be complimented by a testimonial from 
his fellow-citizens of all parties, that Brooklyn 
should say to him, as the Spartan mother said to 
her son, buckling on 

" tho shield— 

Return tcith it and victory, 
Or on it, from the field." 

7 



50 

So we now give to him the shield of our respect 
and onr good wishes. Let him bear them with 
him, and, when he comes back, we shall honor him 
more because he shall have honored us abroad. And 
when he reaches that honored fatherland from which 
came the early settlers of this part of the land, let 
him tell them what he left here behind him. Yes, 
sir, (turning to Mr. Murphy,) tell them there, that 
the descendants of the original settlers of Brooklyn 
are here now, although centuries have passed away, 
and that the virtues of the fathers flourish more 
vigorously in the virtues of the descendants, I 
look around this table and see living proofs of 
what I say — and pardon me if I mention the 
names of the Lotts, Yan Brunts, and Polhemuses. 
We can say to you, and you can say to them, that 
neither in physical stature, in intellectual power, 
nor moral worth, has there been any degeneracy. 
Notwithstanding the Oriental incursions which we 
have had among us, I will back the descendants of 
the Dutch in this community as men who will out- 
weigh all the rest. Tell those old Hollanders, 
also, — what I fear they do not sufficiently remem- 
ber, — that to the foresight of their fathers is OAving 
the establishment of the noble city at the confluence 
of those two rivers ; and of this, which is destined, 
in time, to rival, if not exceed it in magnitude. 
Yes, sir, that that city, with all its commerce, its 
learning, religion, and multitude of honest men, 
with all its force of character and wealth, — this 
community, every pulse of whose heart is felt 
throughout all the ramifying veins of this vast 
Confederacy, and tells upon the remotest portion 



51 

of the civilized earth, — that this great metropolis, 
so stupendous in its size and importance, is- built 
upon the foundation which the Hollanders laid. 
It is easy to hea}) up stone and mortar, Init unless 
the foundation be firm, the whole superstructure 
must soon fall away ; and I believe that nothing 
less tlmn the virtues, the industry, the example, 
and the blood of Holland, would have been suffi- 
cient as a foundation, to sustain the immense 
weight imposed upon what was once New Nether- 
land. I have but one word more, (cries of "Go 
on — go on,") and that is, that this country, com- 
posed, as it is, of all bloods, owes much of its 
spirit to such mixture of races ; for I believe that 
crossing the breed improves the stock, and that 
one reason why New York takes the lead in the 
Union is, .that she has the largest admixtures of the 
best blood of all nations ; but the strong blood of 
Holland was the first. 

This country owes to Holland that species of 
filial gratitude and respect which is due to great 
precedents and high examples. No man ever de- 
voted himself to the study of the history of Hol- 
land without becoming an enthusiastic admirer of 
that history, — finding in it the seeds of all free 
principles of modern times, — and feeling in his 
heart a sentiment of gratitude to Almighty God 
for enabling noble men to rescue from the sea that 
land, and make it the cradle in which the modern 
liberties of the world have been rocked. In the 
union of her trades, the absence of nobles, and a 
brave democracy to keep out the sea, and keep 



52 

back the feudal tyrants that would have crushed 
her muiiicipahties, we discover the principles of 
that system of constitutional government under 
which we now rejoice. Her States were for a 
time, indeed, distracted and belligerent against 
each other, but soon learning that division among 
free neighbors was death, she presented a front 
which the power of Spanish cruelty and arms 
could not break, and formed, for the first time 
in the history of the world, the league of in- 
dependent sovereignties, — the Union which typi- 
fied our own. This we owe to Holland, the best 
gift of all ; for what were our municipalities, our 
States and our institutions, if it were not for this 
Union, which, like the attrac-tion of the sun over 
the planetary bodies, also holds us in our harmoni- 
ous relations? 

In Holland were first uttered the words of reli- 
gious liberty, as we understand it; for as early 
as 159G Hooft declared that in a free State no man 
should be troubled or hindered on account of his 
religious opinions. Give to Lord Baltimore, the 
Pilgrim Fathers, or Ptoger Williams what honor 
you may, it was Holland that first heard the noble 
sentiment that no human authority should come 
between a man and his God. Nor let it be forgot- 
ten that it was, after long struggles of absolutism 
with dissent in politics and religion, and after the 
failure of Puritanism, that both civil and religious 
liberty were established in Great Britain, when a 
Dutchman, one trained in the political system of 
Holland, and a member of the Reformed Dutch 



53 

Chiircli, ascended the throne. Go to iliat luiid, my 
frieud, and tell them you come from a community 
which represents the virtues of their iatliers; and 
tliat their cliildren here arc grateful for the legacy 
which has come down to them for centuries. If 
you find that the liberties of Holland have suffered 
some decrease — tliat tlie King sits where once the 
Stadtholder sat — that there is some deviation from 
her ancient toleration, — remember that Holland is 
but a little country among the vast populations of 
Europe. Her population never quite reached 
three millions, yet she once had five universities, 
and her fleets doubled that of all Europe. But 
surrounded by despotisms and strong govern- 
ments, weakened by her departure from her sys- 
tem of free trade, which made her Avhat she was, it 
was not possible that she should still maintain the 
power and dignity she once possessed. To us was 
granted that boundless space and diversity of soil, 
climate, temperament, and culture, which enables 
us to mature the ideas of liberty that were trans- 
planted from Holland. But for sucJi a large and 
enlarging sphere, we too might have failed. Tell 
them, too, that our great nation is faithful to the 
system we derived so largely from their original 
example, and faithful to the Union of our States, 
the more glorious repetition of their own — that, 
though murmurs of disaffection may be occasion- 
ally heard from extreme extravagances, the vast 
bulk of our people are bound together by links in- 
dissoluble — nay, that rather than live under any 
other system, we would die amidst its ruins. 



54 

The Rev. Dr. Kennaday, having been called for, 
arose and said — 

Mr. President : — The lateness of the hour would 
be sufficient to restrain me from indulging in any 
extended course of remarks, even had we not been 
so amply entertained by the many sentiments of 
high regard so eloquently expressed in farewell to 
our distinguished fellow-citizen. Still, in obe- 
dience to your request, I will append a few 
remarks. 

The sentiment last announced, and to which 
I likewise am desired to respond, expresses the 
hope that " the Reformed Clergy ivill not despair 
of you^ their unreformed 2^Qopley Whatever may 
be the despondence to which others may yield, or 
whatever may be the sentence which others may 
pronounce, it is very certain, I'rom the proffer of 
our worthy friend. Dr. Bethune, to take you under 
his watchtul care, and from his able and eloquent 
address, that you are not to be executed '■^without 
benefit of clergy ^ Allow me to say, that I fully 
concur in the confidence expressed by him, and am 
no less hopeful of your reformation. The evi- 
dence which you have this night given of a gener- 
ous forgetfulness of political predilections, when 
the claims of private and public Avorth are consid- 
ered, is a strong and encouraging indication that, 
whatever differences may agitate the public heart, 
such differences cannot subdue the nobler emo- 
tions of our nature. My confidence in the purity 
and permanency of our Government, has always 



55 

rested, in a great degree, upon my confidence in 
the integrity and patriotism of our public men ; 
and this assurance is not a little strengthened 
when the amenities of friendship rise superior to 
the prejudices of party, as men of every variety of 
sentiment upon public questions unite in evincing 
their appreciation of a worthy man. 

Sentiments are of most importance in their influ- 
ence upon actions. It is to the deportment of men 
that we must look for the more effective illustra- 
tion of political theories. Men who maintain their 
integrity in the service where the public conli- 
dence has placed them, are worthy of all commen- 
dation. Nothing can be more disastrous to public 
virtue than indifference to political purity. The 
approval of those most familiar with their charac- 
ter, is ever to be considered as one of the strongest 
incentives by which men in positions of confidence 
and responsibility are to be governed. It is, I 
conceive, in respect to these sentiments that we 
mingle in the farewell, yet gratulatory, expressions 
of the evening. 

The honor which the President of the United 
States has conferred upon Mr. Muiiphy is, as 
has been well remarked, an honor conferred no 
less upon ourselves. To-night he is surrounded 
by many who have found him a zealous com- 
peer in promoting those interests which have 
tended to the prosperity and character of our 
city. The present is, in many respects, Mr. 
President, a time in the history of Brooklyn, when 



50 

her citizens may feel more than ordinary gratifica- 
tion. Besides sharing in the diplomatic honors of 
Government, we have given, from one of our sub- 
urban villages, a Governor to our Empire State. 
In addition to this, two of our fellow-citizens 
are at this time among the distinguished men of 
the globe. I allude to Captain Hudson, and his 
colleague, Captain Sands — gentlemen distinguished 
in our naval service, and highly esteemed as our 
own fellow-citizens. Their absence from us this 
evening is because of their sharing in the honora- 
ble work of laying the submarine telegraph cable. 
These gentlemen are uniting with their British 
compeers to give to science the more perfect do- 
minion of the sea. The two countries, with the 
power of Niagara and the grasp of Agamemnon, 
are struggling in harmony to bind the ocean with 
a chain of lire. Surely, Mr. President, Brooklyn 
may be allowed to indulge in some little self- 
complacency when all the world admits that in 
Captain Hudson, one of our own citizens, we have 
one of the greatest '■'■ wire-pullers'''' of the age. 
When that great achievement is effected, the re- 
joicings resulting therefrom would be greatly 
enhanced could we receive a salutation from our 
new Minister to Holland, greeting us in good old- 
fashioned, honest Dutch. 

Allow me, Mr. President, to repeat my confi- 
dence in the reformatory capabilities of public 
men. When I see men of all parties stepping 
down from their narrower platforms, and coming 
together in all the kindly blendings of a common 



67 

brotherhood, I am encouraged to believe that we 
are one in the love of an nnbroken country. Not 
that political distinctions are to be deemed unim- 
portant, nor that men are to be indifferent to their 
convictions upon great public measures ; but that 
there are interests before which party barriers 
should sink, and every line of separation be lost. 

When Alcibiades was at the head of the Athenian 
government, he was, at one time, in the presence 
of Socrates, boasting of the magnitude of his pos- 
sessions, which were mostly within the precincts of 
the city. Intending to moderate his vanity, the 
philosopher asked for a nuip of the world. The 
world, as then known, in its broad expanse, was 
spread before them. "Where is Achaia?" in- 
quired Socrates. "There it is," said Alcibiades. 
"And where is Athens?" This, though but a dimin- 
ished spot, was soon perceived. "Where, Al- 
cibiades, are thy possessions?" They could not be 
found. They were lost amid the entire of Athens, 
included in the greatness of Achaia, and merged 
in the magnitude of the world. 

Thus should it be witli our party distinctions. 
In the broad and ample outlines of our noble 
country, the lesser outlines should fade away. 

In conclusion, let me assure our honored friend, 
that I most heartily concur in the sentiments of 
respect so ardently tendered him by his numerous 
friends. 1 remember, when, in tlie commencement 
of his public career, it devolved upon him to de- 

8 



58 

liver a Fourth of July onation before the citizens 
of Brooklyn, in the church of which I was pastor, 
it became my duty to open the ceremonies by 
prayer. Still shall my most devout wishes go 
with him, that his career may be one of continued 
usefulness and integrity ; and in bidding him fare- 
well, I will say, "The Lord preserve thy going 
out and thy coming in from this time forth, and 
even forevermore." 

" The Army and Navy — The ultimate arguments, when all other 
reasons fail to convince, and all other eloquent appeals are ex- 
hausted." 

General Aaron Ward, of Westchester County, 
being called upon, responded as follows : — 

Mr. President: — You and the gentlemen present 
have my thanks for the kind manner you have 
been pleased to second the call upon me, to re- 
spond to the sentiment just read. In rising at this 
late hour of the night, my reply to it must neces- 
sarily be brief. I take unusual pleasure in stating 
that, in accepting the invitation of your Committee 
to this dinner, I feel gratified that I have thus 
been favored with the privilege of uniting with 
you on this interesting occasion, in taking leave 
of your honored fellow-citizen, my much valued 
and esteemed friend, Mr. Murphy, who is so soon 
to take his departure from among us. 1 have long 
been personally and intimately acquainted with, 
him ; we served together in the Constitutional 
Convention in this State in 184G, in which he took 
a most active and conspicuous part. Our political 



59 

sentiments have always aecorded with each other, 
and I can truly say that, in the numerous speeches 
which he made in the Congress of the United 
States, ill the (Constitutional Convention of our 
own State, and in the other political Conventions 
in which we have acted together, 1 have never 
heard him speak disrespectfully, in- the • slightest 
degree, of a single political opponent. (Immense 
applause.) He established this creed for his own 
government at an early period of his political life, 
namely : "To exercise his elective franchise fear- 
lessly, in his own way, and to allow others, without 
reproach, the same invaluable privilege." (Great 
applause.) This excellent trait in his character, 
the eminence to which he has arrived, his moral 
worth, his intellectual attainments, and his pure 
and unsullied character, have attached to him a 
host of ardent friends in every section of our 
country, who, though not here in person, are, I am 
sure, with us to-night, in spirit and kind wishes. 
(Tumultuous applause.) 

In your letter of invitation tendering to him this 
testimonial of your respect, you pay a just tribute 
to his merits ; and this banquet is not less honor- 
able to yourselves, than to the patriotic gentleman 
who has been called to a distinguished mission. 
(Cheers.) Our hearts will go with him over the 
seas ; our prayers will follow the ship that bears 
him away ; and although his eyes may moisten 
with regret at parting, he will be soothed with the 
reflection that he leaves behind him those who 
love him, and those who will greet his return to 



60 

his native shores, with the same deep aifection in 
which they will bid him " God-speedy (Applause.) 
Those who know Mr. Murphy as I do, will have 
no apprehension of the success of his mission. 
The honor of the country is in safe hands, entrust- 
ed to his care ; and that he will discharge his high 
official duties to the satisfaction of the country 
and the people, admits not of a single doubt, 
(Applause.) 

The sentiment to which I am requested to re- 
spond, " The Army and Navy — the ultimate argu-. 
ment, when all others fail of convincing, and all 
appeals are exhausted," expresses my own feelings 
and the feelings of the whole American people ; 
and I trust Mr. Murphy will present it to the 
Government to which he is accredited, that it may 
be fully understood, that it is the desire and the 
settled policy of this Republic to remain at peace 
with all the world, (great applause,) and that nei- 
ther the President nor the Congress of the United 
States will at any time involve our country in a 
war with any foreign power without just cause, 
(Applause.) While our present enlightened Chief 
Magistrate and "all others in authority" will cautious- 
ly avoid giving any just cause of offence to other na- 
tions, we will never submit to any act of aggression 
from any other power in the world, without re- 
turning blow for blow. (Loud and reiterated 
applause.) It is now nearly three-quarters of a 
century since we achieved our independence and 
took our station am6ng the nations of the earth ; 
since then we have been, much to the regret of 



61 

our people, twice involved in Avar. That of 1812, 
with Great Britain, was in defence of free trade 
and sailors' rights. ( Long and continued ap- 
plause.) That nation, with its powerful navy, 
impressed our seamen on board of our merchant 
vessels on the high seas, and committed other acts 
of violence against the commerce of our country, 
which drove us to the necessity of a declaration of 
war against her. The other war was with Mexico, 
wdiich was brought about by reason of that Gov- 
ernment's undertaking to wrest, witli an armed 
force, a portion of our territory from us, and 
that, too, without any previous declaration of hos- 
tilities. 

Thanks, however, to an overruling Providence, 
in both instances, peace was restored by honorable 
treaty stipulations ; and it is a source of gratifica- 
tion to know, that our gallant Army and Navy 
nobly discharged their whole duty in both strug- 
gles. There is no man that hears me that does not 
only remember, but glory in, the services of our 
Army and Navy in these memorable wars ; there 
is not a true-hearted, whole-souled American liv- 
ing, who will not join me in saying that they were 
such as to merit the eternal gratitude of the people, 
and to add to our national fame both at home and 
abroad. (Loud cheering, and long continued.) 
The names of Scott, Taylor, Wool and Worth, who 
served in both wars, with Jackson, Brown, Hull, 
Decatur, Perry, Mac Donough, Bainbridge, Porter, 
Lawrence, Morris, and a host of other army and 
naval officers who served in the war of 1812, have 



62 

funiislied materials for glorious pages in the history 
of our country. Winfield Scott, who has been de- 
servedly promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General 
for his brilliant successes in these wars, is still at 
the head of our Army, and is, beyond all doubt, 
the greatest Captain of the age. His enemies 
have said this, and his friends may be proud to 
reiterate it. (Enthusiastic apjolause.) 

But while it is, as I have said, the earnest desire 
of the Government to remain at peace with all the 
world, it is the part of sound wisdom to be at all 
times prepared for war, as the best means of pre- 
serving peace. No nation can be safe from insult 
or injury that is unable to resist them. To be un- 
prepared for war is the surest way to provoke it. 
Weakness often invites insult. The arts of peace, 
which enrich and embellish nations, are incapable 
of defending them; and wealth, without the power 
of protecting it, is ever the prey of violence. 

We must, therefore, encourage military habits, 
military skill, and a military spirit among our peo- 
ple. But it is not necessary that we should main- 
tain, at all times, a large standing army to eat out 
the substance of the people ; all that is required, 
in order to keep alive this military spirit, is our 
present Army, organized, as it is, with the West 
Point Institution forming a component part. That 
Institution now supplies our Army with a class of 
highly-educated and scientific officers, who will 
compare favorably with any similar body of men 
in the world. (Loud applause.) While our Gov- 



63 

ernment continues to maintain an efficient army to 
fortify our coast and frontiers ; to construct mili- 
tary roads where necessary ; to continue the or- 
ganization of the militia force, which now numbers 
between two and three millions of men, fully 
armed and equipped, and ready for any service ; 
and, above all, to continue the gradual and steady 
increase of our Navy, tlie increase of which should 
never be lost sight of, so long as other nations keep 
up a large navy, and so long as our commerce ex- 
tends to every part of the globe, which requires 
protection, peace may be preserved. (Great ap- 
plause.) 

But to ensure that blessing, as our territory ex- 
tends from ocean to ocean, it is necessary, in my 
opinion, to construct a railroad to connect the 
Atlantic with the Pa.cific seas. It is a gigantic 
undertaking, 1 grant, but it is one that is calcula- 
ted to advance the prosperity and happiness of 
our people far beyond any other measure of the 
present day ; it is one of the few great works 
which the Government of the United States may 
undertake without any fear of encroaching upon 
the provisions of the Constitution, for military 
roads are as necessary as a means of defence as 
fortifications on our seaboard or inland frontier. 
The framers of the Constitution foresaw the neces- 
sity, not only of authorizing Congress to provide 
for the common defence, but to establish post- 
offices and post-roads ; and consequently, under 
certain circumstances. Congress may appropriate 
funds ("or their construction. Tliis road, when 



64 

finished, will be the great military road of the 
country, and will enable the Government, within 
six days' time, to transport an army from the 
Atlantic side to aid our brethren in the golden 
region to repel any threatened attacks which may 
be made upon them. Such a military road, with 
our army, navy, and militia forces, would enable 
our Government, as it is our earnest desire, to 
maintain peace with all nations. (Great ap- 
plause.) 

With these imperfect and hurried remarks, I 
thank you, gentlemen, for your patience ; and, 
wishing our guest a flowing sail, a smooth stream, 
a clear sky, and a safe arrival, I take my seat. 

(The speaker resumed his seat amid deafening 
cheers.) 

The next toast was — 

"The Press,"— 

To which Mr. Swackhamer, being called upon, 
made the following response : — 

Mr. President : — While I appreciate the compli- 
ment of being called on to respond to the senti- 
ment just read, permit me to inquire whether this 
honorable distinction should not have been confer- 
red on some other or older member of the press. 
Having no voice, however, in this matter, I pro- 
pose to advert to the early struggles of the press 



66 

ill this coimtiy, and trace its rise and progress 
from infancy to manhood, — from the period while 
yet weak, it defied despotism, until the present 
time, when, in its strength, it guides the destinies 
of a free and powerful nation. Much has been 
said during the evening of the patriotism of tlie 
State of New York, and of the heroic achieve- 
ments of a race — the German — from whom I am a 
descendant. However just this may be, it is none 
the less true, that other people and other colonies 
are entitled to equal credit for early devotion to 
sound governmental principles. 

The American Press was born in the Colony of 
Massachusetts, although the fetters that bound it 
were first broken in the Colony of New York, 
which event Governor Morris regarded as the 
germ of American freedom, — the morning star of 
that liberty which subsequently revolutionized 
America. 

I have said the first newspaper was established 
in Massachusetts: — this was at Cambridge, in the 
middle of the seventeenth century, and it was de- 
voted to literary and scientific subjects. About 
the year 1700, three newspapers were published in 
Massachusetts, one in Pennsylvania; and in 1725, 
one was also commenced in New York, — the 
"New York Gazette," — by William Bradford. For 
expressing certain sentiments regarded as sedi- 
tious by the Government, concerning a public 
controversy, Bradford, and Macomb his associate, 
was tried before Justice Cooke, who used all his 

9 



06 

influence to convict liim ; bnt tlie jury, after re- 
maining out over sixty hours, disagreed, and were 
discharged. George Keith, who wrote the article, 
Avas, however, condemned without a hearing. The 
second newspaper established in the New York 
Colony was the " New York AVeekly Journal," in 
1733. It opposed the administration of Governor 
Cosby with great vigor, and its publisher, John 
Peter Zenger, was harshly treated by the Governor 
and Council in consequence. By his order, Zenger 
was confined for several months, deprived of pen, 
ink and paper, and denied the intercourse of his 
friends. But the jury, after a lair hearing of the 
case, found a verdict of Not f/uilti/ of the charge of 
sedition. This, in connection with the acquittal 
of Bradford and Macomb, laid the foundation of 
the American Press, by the vindication and main- 
tenance of its primary rights. 

It is worthy of remark, that the freedom of the 
press found, at this early period, able advocates in 
the legal profession : among whom was Andrew 
Hamilton, of Philadelphia, Avho successfully de- 
fended Zenger, generously refusing all compensa- 
tion for his laborious services. 

Only a little over a hundred years have been 
numbered with the past, since these struggles were 
made by the press ; and yet, what amount of good 
or evil has it not accomplished within this brief 
period V Or rather, what amount of good has it 
not secured to the mass of mankind ? For what- 
ever of evil that may, and perhaps does, attend 



67 

the freedom of tlie press, is a thousand tunes com- 
pensated in the benefits it confers upon society. 

1 have referred to tlie two pioneers in the cause 
of the free(h)ni of tlie })ress in America. In tliis 
connection it is pro[)er to say that, at tin) com- 
mencement of the RevoUition, only four newspa- 
pers were published in New York, — the first bear- 
ing the remarkable title of, '' Rivington's New 
York (Jazetteer, or the Connecticut, New Jersey, 
Hudson's River and Quebec Weekly Advertiser." 
Whether the circulation of this paper ever reached 
the extent of territory iiulicated by its comprehen- 
sive title, is not known. The three others were, 
"Gaines' Mercury," ''Loudon's Packet," and "Holt's 
Journal." The two last sustained the Revolution- 
ary cause with great energy and ability, while 
Rivington and Gaines defended the interests of the 
Royalists. Besides those specified, because of their 
locality, there were thirty-five other newspapers 
published in the American Colonies at the begin- 
ning of the Revolution, all of which were very 
limited in their scope and size, averaging only 
about half a page of foolscap. None of these at- 
tained more than a weekly issue, until the close of 
the Revolution, when they rapidly increased in 
numbers and daily issues, amounting, in the year 
1810, to three hundred and sixty, and at this day 
to as many thousands as then hundreds ; and it is 
said that one New York jouriud circulates more 
copies daily than the entire Colonial press did 
weekly during the Revolutionary struggle, and, in- 
deed, for some time subsequent to its determination. 



68 

It is a commou practice for those who, on occa- 
sions like the present, are called upon to speak of 
the press, to eulogize it in extravagant and un- 
measured terms. But this is no part of my pur- 
pose ; on the contrary, I can discern many abuses 
growing up in the conduct of the press, that need 
reform. It is a matter of astonishment to notice 
the course pursued at times by the leading news- 
papers of this country and of Europe on subjects 
of National policy ; but being mainly correct on 
the great interests of man, no exceptions can justly 
be taken on this head. There is, however, another 
feature in tlie newspaper business of the day, 
against which I conceive there are serious objec- 
tions. This consists in the constant efforts of a 
portion of the press, generally known as the 
"Sensation" press, to create or augment excitement 
in the public mind, and often at the expense of 
justice, truth, and good morals. 

The virulence and abuse, personal and political, 
that characterizes the party press, — especially of 
America and England, — derogatory to the charac- 
ter of the institution itself as it is baneful to socie- 
ty, is not, in my opinion, half so prejudicial as the 
other practice to which reference has been made. 
The publication in detail, and in exaggerated col- 
ors, of criminal conduct and of the proceedings in 
criminal courts ; the disposition to incite disorder- 
ly conduct; to influence the passions of the populace ; 
to augment the multifarious difficulties incident to 
popular forms of government, is in the highest de- 
gree reprehensible and dangerous, and should be 



69 

reprobated by every honorable member of the 
press. Obviate this impediment to its success, 
and the Press at once stands fortli the champion of 
human rights and of National virtue ; reflecting, 
like the rays of a cloudless autunmal sun, its genial 
warmth upon mankind. It has already achieved 
much for the human race. Whenever and where- 
ever the sons of toil have raised their voices in the 
cause of Freedom, tliere the Press has taken up 
and echoed their declarations in tones as astound- 
ing to the ear of despotism, as it invariably has 
been encouraging to the hearts of the oppressed. 
It has condemned ignorance, promoted education, 
art and science. With all its errors, it is yet the 
beacon light of truth and liberty. Though tram- 
melled by infirmities, it is the base and bulwark of 
the civilized world. Without it, all would be mist 
and darkness ; — with it, the day-star of religion 
and civilization is penetrating the darkest recesses 
of barbarism ; and through it. Democracy will yet 
envelop within its far-reaching panoply, and pro- 
tect inviolate, the rights of every people against 
all forms of oppression, emanating either from the 
devices of tyranny or the bondage of superstition, 
— hitherto the prolific source of the misery and 
destitution that has borne down and consigned to 
lasting oblivion so many millions of mankind. 



The company separated between one and two o'clock, A. M., 
after Laving spent an evening characterized by manifestations of 
pleasure and good fellowship, and by mutual expressions of kindly 
feeling. 



APrENDIX. 



APPENDIX 



Bedford Spuixgs, Penx., 1st August, 1857. 
Gen'tlemex : — 

I have received j'onr kind invitation to be present "at a dinner 
to be given to the Hon. Henry C. Mukpuv, by liis friends, at the 
Mansion House," on the 5th inst., "prior to his departure on his 
Mission to Holland." I reL^rct that it is impossible lor uie to accept 
it; because I entertain a warm regard for Mr. Muri)iiy, and should 
rejoice to meet the friends wlio propose to do him honor. 

Witli my grateful thanks, 

I remain yours, very respectfully, 

JAMES BUCHANAN. 

Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Ed. Driggs. John 
Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



Washixgtox City, July 27, 1857. 

Gentlemen : — 

I thank you for the invitation to attend the dinner proposed to 
be given to Mr. Mcrpht, prior to his departure on his Mission to 
Holland, and I should accept it with pleasure were I not prevented 
by public business. 

I am gratified at this mark of esteem and regard shown by his 
friends who best know him, to an able and patriotic citizen about to 
leave his country on such a service. It is a tribute which has been 
ably earned, and is well bestowed. 

I am, gentlemen, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 

To N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, J as. Humphrey, C. P. Smith; Edmund Driggs, John 
Greenwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Esqs., CoMMiTTKa. 

10 



74 
Washington City, July 31, 1857. 



Gentlemen : — 



I regret to say that ifc will not be in my power to be present at the 
proposed dinner to your wortliy fellow citizen, Hon. IIeney 0. 
Murphy. It was my good fortune to l)e associated with Mr. Murphy 
in my early Congressional life, and tlien learned to appreciate his 
talents, and admire the many sterling qualities of his character. In 
liim the people of his district ahvays found an able and efficient 
representative, and the country at large a wise and patriotic legisla- 
tor. He is now called by his Government to a new field of action, 
and in the success of his past life we have the most satisfactory 
assurance that his future career will l)e equally successful and 
honorable. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

HOWELL COBB. 

To N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, Jas. Humphrby, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, Jodjj 
Greenwood, and TcNrs G. Bergen, Committee. 



Albany', Aug. 3, 1857. 
Gentlemen :— 

Yoiirs of the 28d nit., I found at my home at Balston Spa, last 
evening, on my weekly visit there. 

I regret extremely that the absence of my Deputy confines me to 
the duties of my office, without the cessation of a single day ; as it 
would afford me great pleasure to meet the friends of tlie Hon. Henry 
C. MuEPHY", as well as yourselves, upon the occasion referred to in 
your note, particularly so from the estimation formed of the charac- 
ter and abilities of the gentleman, in whose honor the dinner of the 
5th is given, during the sitting of the Constitutional Convention of 
1846, of whicli he, as well as myself, Avas a member. 

Please convey to him my regrets at not being able to attend on the 
5th to brighten the chain of our friendship, and express my Avishes 
for his success in the responsible, honorable and important position 
which he is soon to occupy. Accept for yourselves my regards for 
your attention, and believe me. 

Yours, truly, 

JAMES M. COOK. 

To N. B. Morse and E. W. Fiske, Esqs. 



75 

Wasiiingtox, Aug. 3d, 1857. 



Gentlemen : — 



I liave the honor to acknowledgo your invitatiou to T)0 present at 
the dinner to ])e given to the lion. Henry C. ^ftTRpnY, at the Man- 
sion House, in Brooklyn, on tlie 5th of the ])resent iiiontli. 

It would give me great pleasure to participate in this testimonial 
of regard to tlie new Minister to Holland, l)y uniting with his friends 
on the occasion, but, I regret to say my engagements will not permit. 

I am, gentlemen, with much respect, your obedient servant, 

ISAAC TOUCEY. 

Messrs. N. B. Mohse, Edward W. Fiskk, and others, Committee. 



BiNouAMPTON, August 8, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

It would afford me great satisfaction to [iartici[)ate in the festive 
honors i)roposed to be extended to tlie Hon. Henky 0. Murpuy, on 
the 5th, pursuant to your kind invitation, but professional engage- 
gagements of long standing will prevent. The occasion is appropri- 
ately chosen, and the compliment worthily bestowed. I have long 
known Mr. Murphy and whether in social life, pursuing the duties of 
his profession, or representing his district in the councils of his nation, 
he has discharged his duties in a manner becoming the cultivated 
gentleman, the sound lawyer and the upright and able statesman. 
In his selection to represent the country abroad, the President has 
conferred honor upon the government and people, as well as upon 
the incumbent, and the most gratifying results may be anticipated 
from a mission so replete with elements of fitness. Begging you to 
pi-esent for me the annexed sentence, 

I have the honor to be, sincerely, yours, 

D. S. DICKINSON. 

To Messrs. N. B. Morse, E, W. Fiske, J. Uumpurey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, 
John Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Esqs., Committee. 

" Our Foreign Ambassadors— May they in all cases be true representatives of the 
government of the United States, and in the discharge of their personal and political 
relations elevate the country which has elevated them." 



Gentlemen : — 



76 

Albany, July 29, 1857. 



I regret that my engagements for the montli of August will pre- 
vent my acceptance of your invitation to be present at tlie dinner to 
be given to the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, by his friends, on the 5th 
of August next, prior to his Mission to Holland. I regret it the more 
as it would have afforded me the opportunity of adding the tribute 
of my respect for the character and qualifications of Mr. Murphy, 
Avhose love of letters, combined with the knowledge of our own, 
and the principles of pubhc law, eminently fit him to represent his 
country at a foreign Court. 

With great respect, your obedient servant, 

JOHN A. KING. 

To HONS. N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, Ja^ Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs 
John Greenwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



LooKPORT, July 29, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I have received your letter invithig me to attend the dinner to be 
given to the Honorable Henry 0. Morphy, prior to his departure on 
his Mission to Holland, I regret that my engagements will not permit 
me to accept the invitation. It would afford me no ordinary pleasure 
to unite with you in this appropriate compliment to a gentleman 
possessing so just a title to public confidence and regard. 

It was my good fortune to be associated with Mr. Murphy for some 
years in the public councils, and while we differed in opinion on 
many political questions, his patriotism, ability and manly spirit 
inspired me with high respect for his character. My best Avishes 
will attend him on his Mission to the Dutch Court. He is peculiarly 
qualified to strengthen the friendly ties between the United States 
and Holland, resulting from cherished historical recollections. It is 
gratifying to me to know that we are to be represented there by one 
whose learning, accomplishments and elevated views will reflect 
honor upon our national reputation. 

With great regard, your obedient servant, 

WASHINGTON HUNT. 

N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, J Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Eomunp Pkicgs, John 
Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Esqs., Committee. 



Gextlemen :- 



77 

Albany, Jul}- 31, 1857. 



I am in I'cceipt of your letter inviting nic to ;i dinner, whicli tlio 
friends of tlio Hon. Henry C. Murimiy are to give tliiit estimable 
citizen before his departure on liis Diplomatic Mission. 

Entertaining a higli sense of Mr. Murphy's public worth and per- 
sonal virtues, it would ati'ord me extreme pleasure to unite with his 
fellow citizens in this very ap[)ropriate manifestation of their regard 
for a gentleman wlio has, in his professional, political, personal and 
social relations, exerted a healthful and benign influence u[)on the 
prosperity and happiness of your comparatively youthful, but great 
and beautiful City. Hut a previous engagement will deprive me of 
all this enjoyment. 

Very respectfully aud truly yours, 

THURLOW WEED. 

To Messrs. Morse, Fiske, IIumphkey, Sjiitu, Dkigg.s, Greenwood, and Bergen. 

Allow me to submit, if a fitting occasion otiers, the following sen- 
timent : 

The Hon IIenrv C. Murpuy — In his home-life aud character, the country has a sure 
guaranty for the wisdom and fldelity that will distinguish his official career abroad. 



Oswego, July 8U, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I am at this place on a professional engagement, which will pro- 
bably occupy me most of next week, and will therefore prevent the 
acceptance of your kind invitation to a complimentary dinner to be 
given to Hon. Mr. Murphy', on the 5th of August. I thank you, 
gentlemen, for the honor of the invitation, and should be most happy 
to accept, and thus have an opportunity to meet Mr. Murphy and his 
Brooklyn friends and testify to him personally my respect for his 
character, and my gratification at his selection for the important 
trust confided to him. But it seems probable now that the circum- 
stances to which I have referred will render it impracticable for me 
to be at Brooklyn on the 5th, and I am compelled, reluctantly, to 
decline the invitation. 

I am, gentlemen, with great respect, your obd't serv't, 

SAM. BEARDSLEY. 

Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driqgs, 
John Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



78 

New Yoek, July 31st, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I am houored by your invitation to attend the banquet to be given 
by the friends of the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, on the 5th August, 
and regret tliat a prior engagement out of the city will deprive me 
of the gratification of sharing personally in this deserved tribute to 
distinguished personal and public worth. 

Able and qualified as have been the representatives of our govern- 
ment at tlie Court of the Netherlands, we know with what confidence 
we may look, in the appointment of our eminent fellow citizen, for 
a renewed exhibition of these qualities. We know also hoAV fully 
the results of his Mission will confirm the wisdom of President 
Buchanan's selection from this State, and with Avhat ample fidelity 
and patriotism the interests and honor of the country Avill be 
maintained. 

If a feeling of regret can be allowed to mingle with such an occa- 
sion as this, we may indulge it in the reflection that we are soon to 
be deprived of the personal association of one whom we have been 
long led to regard as identified with our social happiness and the 
public well-being, and Avho will carry with him our best wishes and 
expectations. 

Permit me to ofter a sentiment for the dinner, and to subscribe 
myself. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

EDWAPvD OPvOSWELL. 

To N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James IIoiiPHREy, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
Greenwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 

The Ambassadorial Character of a Countrv. — Best illustrated by its best talent aud 
its highest personal worth — characteristics which we recognize in the American Minister 
tj the Hague. 



New York, July 27, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I have your invitation to the dinner to be given to the Hon. Henry 
0. Murphy, prior to his departure on the Mission to Holland, and 
regret that the necessity of leaving the city before the appointed 
day will deprive me of the pleasure of being present. 

I am, very respectfully and truly yours, 

GREENE C. BEONSON. 

Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, EdmuxNd Driggs, 
John Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



Gentlemen :- 



79 

Huntington, 29th July, 1857. 



It would afford me very great pleasure to be with you at the 
complimentary dinner to our friend, the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, 
prior to liis departure for the Hague ; but I regret that I shall be 
deprived of that pleasure by an indispensable engagement. 

1 am, Willi jrreat respect, your obedient servant, 

C. C. CAMBRELING. 

Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Hcmphret, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driocs, 
Jons Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



New York, -Tuly 28, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I am in receipt of your note of the 23d inst., inviting mo to a 
dinner to be 'given to the Hon. Henry C Murphy, on the 5th of 
August. I regret exceedingly that engagements out of the city will 
prevent my being present on the occasion. I regard the compliment 
which you intend paying Mr. Murphy as a most deserving one. The 
Administration has done itself lionor in his appointment as Minister 
to the Court of Holland, and nothing can be more fitting than that 
his friends and townsmen should tender him, on his departure, their 
best wishes at the time and in the manner proposed. 
Very truly yours, 

HENRY NICOLL. 

Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James nuMPHREv, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



Buffalo, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

Contrary to my expectations, and much to my regret, I find it will be 
impossible for me to be present at the dinner to be given to the Honor- 
able Mr. MuEPHY, on the 5th instant, prior to his departure on his Mis- 
sion to Holland. It is a fitting compliment to a distinguished citizen. 

Hoping that nothing may occur to mar the joyousness of the occa- 
sion, and that the future of Mr. Murphy may be as brilliant and 
successful as his political course hitherto has been consistent and 
honorable, 

I remain, with much consideration and respect. 

Your most obedient servant, 

HENRY M. ROGERS. 

Hon. N. B. Morse and others. Committee, &c. 



80 

Oystee Bat, August 3, 1857. 



Gentlemen 



I have to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to a dinner 
to be given to Mr. Muephy, on the 5th instant, on the occasion of his 
departure to Holland. The public compliment which you thus pur- 
pose to pay to your distinguished fellow citizen, is one which he is 
well entitled to receive; and from my long acquaintance with him, 
and the friendly relations which have always existed between us, I 
could wish it were in ray power to unite with you in showing him 
this mark of respect, but I have made it a rule of late years to abstain 
entirely from any participation in such festive occasions. I must, 
therefore, beg you to excuse my non-attendance. 

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

W. 0. M'COUK 

To Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humperey, C. P. Smith, E. Driggs, John 
Greenwood and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



New Yoek, July 30, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I regret that a previous engagement will deprive me of the pleasure 
of attending the proposed dinner to Mr. Murphy, on the 5th prox. 
It is gratifying to see the friends of Mr. Murphy, without distinction 
of party, availing themselves of the occasion of his approaching 
departure on a foreign Mission, to testify their high sense of his pub- 
lic and private worth. In tlie various important offices he has tilled, 
his intelligence, ability and courtesy have been conspicuous ; and I 
do not doubt he will bring to the new sphere of service assigned to 
him by the General Government the same valuable qualities ; add to 
these a gentlemanlike bearing, which has won him so many friends, 
and an unusual amoiint of information, not only of the country he is 
to represent, but of that to which he accredited ; and I think even 
those who, like myself, regard Holland as their fatherland, and are 
thus interested in both countries, Avill have every reason to be satis- 
fied Avith the American Eepresentative at the Hague. Wishing you 
all manner of enjoyment, 

I am very truly yours, 

J. VAN BUREK 

Messrs. Morse, Fiske and others, Committee. 



81 

South Oyster Bat, Aug. 1, 1857. 



Gentlemen : — 



I beg to acknowledge, with many thanks for your kind rcmeia- 
hrance of me, the receipt of a very poHte invitation from you to 
attend at a dinner to be given by his friends to tlie Hon. IIenky C. 
Murphy, on the 5tli inst. I liave delayed answei-ing your letter, in 
the liope of being able to accept the invitation ; but circumstances, 
I fear, will render it impossible for me to do so. I deeply regret 
this, for I should liave derived much gratification from being present 
on an oecasiou designed to do lionor to one of your distinguislicd 
townsmen, whose public sj)irit, intelligence and worth have made 
him so deservedly ])opular with all classes of his follow citizens, and 
for Avhom no one can entertain a higher personal regard tlian 

Your friend and servant, 

1). R. FLOYD J0:N'ES. 



To Hon. N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiskb, Jas. Homphret, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, Joun 
Greenwood, and Tpnis G. Bergen, Committee. 



Plattsbugh, Aug. 3, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I regret that business in another direction prevents me from accept- 
ing your invitation to dinner, given in honor of our learned and 
estimable friend. As I cannot be witli you, please accept the follow- 
ing in place of part of what I would be glad to say if present : — 

Hon. Henry C. Murphy — When intercourse with foreign nations is entrusted to capable 
men like him, the country feels safe. His Mission will be prosperous ; we hope it may be 
pleasant to him and his family, and their return sure. 

Very respectfully yours, 

L. STETSOX. 

N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, Jas. Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
Greenwood and Tdnis G. Bergen, Committee. 

11 



82 

New York, Aug. 5, 1857. 

Genti-emen : — 

Yoiir invitation to partalie of a dinner, to be given to the Hon. 
11. C. MuEPHY, at the Mansion Honse, this evening, is received. I 
thank yon for yonr kindness, and hope to be present. 

Believing the remembrance of one whose moral worth challenges 
the admiration of all, will not cease with the entertainment you pro- 
pose to give him, and that, while absent, his friends would be pleased 
to retain his likeness, I beg you to accept, for each of those present, 
a copy prepared for my Magazine. 

Respectfully yours, 

C. SWACKHAMEK. 



To Hon. N. B. Mop.sk, Ed. W. Fiske, James Humpbret, C. P. Smith, Edmund Drtggs, John 
Greenwood and Tdnis G. Bergen, Committee. 



Albany, July 30, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I am much obliged for your kind invitation to the dinner to be 
given to the Hon. Heney C. MtrnrnY, prior to his departure for 
Holland ; but I regret to say that my engagements are such, that I 
cannot be present on the day named. Please to present to Mr. 
Murphy my l)est wishes, as well for his personal welfare Avhile 
abroad, as for the success of the honorable mission he has under- 
taken. 

I remain, gentlemen, with great respect, yours very truly, 

ERASTUS CORNING. 



Sfessrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmind Diuogs, John 
Greenwood and Tunis G. Bergen. Committee. 



Gentlemen : — 



83 

New York-, July ol, 1857. 



I liiive received your I'avor inviting iiio to :i dinner to be j^iven to 
the Hon. IIenky V. Miki'iiv, prior to Ids departure on his Mission to 
Holland, and I much regret that J am unable to be present. I have 
known Mr. Murphy many years; we were members of the same Con- 
gress; and I liave not only a sincere respect for him as a man of 
talent and attainments, but a great regard for him pereonally. Be- 
yond the circle of his family and intimate friends, none, I am sure, 
can have been more gratified than myself by his api)oiutment. It 
seemed to me on all accounts appropriate, and especially from his 
familiar acquaintance with the language of the people among whom 
his duties are to be discharged — always a desirable qualification in a 
Minister, thougli certainly not always to be attained. 

The delicate relation in which a ^Minister stands to his own Gov- 
ernment, is not often sufficiently appreciated. It is emhiently of a 
confidential nature, and for this reason the Executive should enjoy 
the largest liberty of choice! With wliatever eagerness or impor- 
tunit}' other official posts may be sought, it seems to me that there 
is a pecidiar indelicacy in pressing for diplomatic appointments, or 
even in holding them by the sufferance of a reluctant Executive. 
Every Administration has its own system of policy, or at least its 
special views, to enforce in its intercourse with foreign states, and, 
in carrying them out, it is entitled to the utmost freedom in the 
choice of its agents. 

The relation in whicli a Minister stands to the Government to 
which he is accredited is scarcely less delicate. He is not only the 
official representative of his own Government, but he is naturally 
regarded as the personal exponent of his countrymen ; and the latter 
are sure to suffer if lie does not come u[) to the standard of respecta- 
bility, in regard to character and capacity, by which ])ublic men are 
usually measured. These appointments deserve, tlierefore, to be 
made with a far more scrupulous care than those Avliich are to be 
exercised at home. It is easy for us to distinguish between an individ- 
ual and the great body of his countrymen. But, for foreigners, who do 
not see us in mass, it so much more difficult to make the distinction. 

Under all these aspects, Mr. Murphy's appointment is creditable 
to the country and the Administration; and he will carry with him my 
best wishes for his health, and the successful discharge of his Mission. 

I am, pentlenien, truly yours, 

JOHN A. DIX. 

To N. B. Morse, K. W. Fiske, Jas. UrMPiiiiKy, C. P. Smith, Kdmcnd Driggs, Joun 
GuEKNwooK, and Trxis G. Bergen, Comuiittec. 



84 

Washington, August 3, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to "a dinner, 
to be given to the Hon. Henky C. Mukphy, by his friends, at the 
Mansion House, Brooklyn, on the 5th inst., prior to his departure on 
liis Mission to Holland ;" and I cannot but express my regret, that 
a necessary absence from the city will deprive me of the privilege of 
participating*with you on an occasion so interesting, and so credit- 
able to all concerned. You will enjoy that pleasure, which, I believe, 
is always felt by those who are engaged in an object about which 
there is no diversity of opinion, and Avhich is in itself eminently 
becoming and laudable. 

A public dinner to a public man is no new thing in our country. 
On the contrary, this form of compliment has been so often indiscri- 
minately bestowed, or Avith reference to ulterior objects, that its value 
has become proportionably impaired, as any certain criterion of public 
confidence and regard. But when the account of your meeting shall 
have been committed to the press of the cities of ISTew York and 
Brooklyn, there will not be one of its myriad readers who will not 
admit, that there was nothing in the occasion which was unbecoming, 
either in you to bestow or in your guest to receive. Those who will 
meet with you will assemble, not merely to honor an individual, but 
certain principles, and a course of conduct Avhich have commended 
themselves to their judgment, and in Avhich they desire to proclaim 
their concurrence. ' 

Splendid gifts of intellectual endowment, noble qualities of mural 
Avorth, large measures of practical Avisdom, devoted appliances of 
industry, high attainments in mental and moral culture, extensive 
acquisitions in useful knoAvledge, and eminent success in any honor- 
able profession or laudable avocation of life, Avhen abstractly con- 
sidered, challenge the admiration of all men everywhere, irrespective 
of any national or social distinction. 

But Avhen these excellencies are combined, embodied and exempli- 
fied in the life and character of an individual, they become invested 
with tenfold attraction, and men pay homage to them or to their 
possessor as if by instinct, or by the higher impulses of intuition. 
Where lives the man, Avho, unprejudiced by the predilictions and 
repugnances of party strife, and unbiassed by the deeper impressions 
of education, feels no admiration for men of superior worth ? 

Such admiration is the legitimate oftspring of a constitutional laAv 
of our nature — a law Avhich results from no local cause or transient 



85 

tendency, but which extends to every nation, triijc and family 
throughout all time; which stands out in bold and Iteantiful relief 
upon the mind of the learned and the uidearned; which is prominent 
among the fundamental procepts of the philosopher and the maxim 
of the moralist, and wliicli is deeply engraved upon the talik-t of 
every human lieart. 

We pay even to intellectual greatness the involuntary trilmte of our 
adniiration and awe ; but the homage of our love and reverence is 
due to it only when associated with moi*al worth. 



For h 



While he 



" Who wickedly is wise, or madly brave, 
Is but the more a fool, the more a knave." 



" Who noble ends by noble means obtains, 
Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains, 
Like good Aurelius, let him reign or bleed, 
Like Socrates, that man is great indeed." 



The observance of this great i>riiiciple is the only right road to 
eminence and honor. There may be instances of teniporaiy advance- 
ment, through some adventitious circumstances, without such real 
merit. The means of individual promotion may sometimes be found 
in personal favoritism, interest or intrigue; and they may secure to 
the aspirant, for a short time, some degree of fame, without any 
intrinsic excellence of character and conduct. But unmerited fame, 
like ill-gotten gain, seldom survives the occasion which gave it birth. 
N^ot so with the destiny of one who rises by the reHex-intluences of 
his own excellence. His course is determined by the elements of 
his being; it is certain as the circuit of the sun. 

It is in obedience to this great principle of our comnum humanity 
that you will meet on the occasion proposed, to pay your respects to 
our honorable and honored fellow citizen, lie has long stood forth 
before your community as the architect of his own fortune,- having 
advanced by his own efforts from the ignorance of childhood to the 
varied accomplishments of a liberal education in the arts and 
sciences, the useful and ornamental, the practical and the tasteful ; 
having attained an honorable standing in the highest rank of 
one of the most difficult professions ; luxving been successively 
chosen by his fellow citizens over Avorthy competitors to the 
chief magistracy of your city and the Congress of the United 
States, Avith various other offices of trust and responsibility; 
having risen by the fruits of his own lionest industry to affluence ; 



86 

having, ill all these places and circumstances, ac(|uitted hiniselt' with 
distinguished success and high honor, and heing now selected, out of 
all the public men in these United States by the Cluef Magistrate of 
the Nation, to till one of tlie most honorable posts among the foreign 
ministers of this Republic — this man deserves well of his country, 
and merits the respect of his fellow citizens, who are themselves 
highly honored by the distinguished honors conferred on. him. In 
him we have the embodiment and the exemplitication of those i)rin- 
ciples, qualities and acquisitions, Avhich so naturally challenge 
our admiration, and so richly deserve all the honor which it is in 
your power to bestow by your festive demonstration. 

Very respectfully-, your obedient servant, 

WM. H. MACLAY. 

To N. B. Morse, Euward W. Fiske, James Humphbey, 0. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
Grbeuwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 



New York, August 3, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 3'our invitation to 
unite with the friends of Hon. IIenky C. Murphy, in a dinner to be 
given on the 5th inst. to that gentleman, prior to his departure on 
his Mission to Holland. 

The selection by the President of Mr. Murphy as one of the Min- 
isters of the United States in Europe, i-s not only a just tribute to 
the talents and political integrity of Mr. Murphy, but a compliment 
to the State of New York, whose faithful servant in the Councils 
of the Union Mr. M. has proved himself. 

I regret that absence from the city Avill i)revent my joining with 
you in the mark of respect you propose to show to your fellow- 
citizen. 

Returning you my sincere thanks for the invitation, 

I remain, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

JOHN McKEON. 

Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James IIumphrey. 0. P. Smith, E. Driggs. 



87 

DiNGiiAMTON, August ."(1, 1857. 
Gentlemen : — 

It would uflbrd me great jileasure to accept your invitation to be 
present at the dinner proposed to be given to the lion. IIenuy C. 
MuRi'iiY, our newly appointed Minister to Holland, on the 5th 
instant, but 1 find my engagements sncii that I am compelled to 
.decline it. 

I should feel a double gratification in meeting Mr. Murphy, with his 
immediate friends and neighbors, on that occasion. The high regard I 
entertain for him personally, is e(|ualled only by my admiration for 
tlie Democracy of your city and county, for their unwavering fidelity 
to the Constitution and tlie Union. 

• Besides the pleasure of ;i long personal acijuaiutance with your distin- 
guished townsman, so soon to engage in a new sphere of high and 
responsible duties abroad, it has been my fortune to be associated 
with him for a brief period in the public service ; and I can bear 
witness to his superior attainments, his unyielding fidelity to Demo- 
cratic principles, and his devoted patriotism. His selection by the 
Administration as the representative of this country at the Hague, 
was eminently fit and proper ; evincing that clear-sighted wisdom 
which has ever distinguislied the present Chief Magistrate of the 
Nation. 

With the hope that the occasion may be one of unalloyed enjoy- 
ment, I have the honor to subscribe myself, 

Your humble, obedient servant, 

AUSBURN BIRDSALL. 

To N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Homphret, C. V. Smith, and Edmind Driggs, 
Committee. 



Captain Stringham presents liis com|)liments to the Committee, 
and aclcnowledges the honor of their invitation to the dinner to be 
given to the Honorable Henry C. Murphy. 

Captain Stringham regrets extremely that his duties compel him 
to pray to be excused, instead of participating in tlie merited com- 
pliment to our distinguished fellow-to^ynsman. 

Captain Stringham begs leave to otter his sincere wishes that the 
Mission of the iionorable guest maV prove as agreeable to himself as 
it will be honorable to our country. 

Navy Yard, New York, I 

Tuesday, 4th Aug., 1857. i 



88 

Albany, August 4th, 1857, 



Gentlemen : — 



I greatly regret that other engagements deprive me of the plea- 
sure of accepting your invitation to a dinner to be given to the 
Honorable IIeney 0. Mci:piiy, prior to his departure on his. Euro- 
pean Mission. Apart from the genial spirit which I know will pre- 
vail there, I should be gratified in an opportunity of showing my 
sincere respect and regard for Mr. Murphy, both as a politician and 
a man. 

Thanking you, gentlemen, for remembering me among his numer- 
ous and well-earned friends, I am. 

Very respectfuUy, 

Your obedient servant, 

W. W. PECKHAM. 

To Messrs. N. B. Morse, Edward W. Fiskb, James IIumphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund 
Driggs, Committee. 



Geneseo, August 3d, ] 857. 
Gentlemen : — 

Pressing business engagements, I regret to say, will prevent my 
accepting your kind invitation to be present at the dinner proposed 
to be given to the Honorable Henry 0. Murphy, on the 5th inst., at 
Brooklyn, prior to his departure to the new field of public service 
to which the President has assigned him. 

The proiFer of a public entertainment to your distinguished fellow- 
citizen is a well-deserved compliment, alike creditable to liim and the 
citizens of your important city. 

The newly-appointed Minister to the Netherlands is highly es- 
teemed throughout the State for his talents and accomplishments, 
and for his public services and i)rivate worth ; and it is peculiarly 
gratifying to his many personal friends in this section of the State 
to find that where he is best known, he is the most honored and 
este'emed. 

With great respect, I have the honor to be 

Your friend and obedient servant, 

B. F. ANGEL. 

To N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Hcmphrbt, C. P. Smith and Edmund Driggs, Esqrs., 
Committee, &c., &c. 



Gentlemen : — 



89 

Newbubgh, August 3(], 1857. 



I thank yon for the invitation to the dinner to be given at the 
Mansion House, on the 5th instant, to the Hon. Henky C. Murphy, 
prior to his departure on his Mission to Holland; and I beg to 
express my regret at my inability to bo present. I should liavo 
much pleasure in uniting with his friends in Brooklyn in their con- 
templated mark of respect, for I have known Mr. Murphy inti- 
mately for many years. I have seen him in situations of much 
responsibility, requiring knowledge, learning, and more than usual 
ability; and I am sure as a lawyer, a legislator, a scholar, and a gen- 
tleman, he is in every way worthy of the distinction which the Gov- 
ernment has conferred upon him. 

I am, very resiiectfully, 

Yours, &c., &c., 

JOHN M. BROWN". 

N. B. Morse, Edwahd W. Fiske, James Hcmphrey, C. P. Smitu, Edmi-kd Dricgs, 
Esquires, Committee, &c. 



xVuGUST 3, 1857. 

Gentlemen : — 

Regarding the selection of our friend and fellow-citizen, the Hon. 
Heney C. MuEPiiY, for the Mission to Holland, as a compliment to 
my own city as well as yours — both being socially one — it would 
afford me great pleasure to unite with you in the tribute of respect 
for his virtues and talents, intended to be paid by the public banquet 
to be given at Brooklyn, on Wednesday next. But I regret that 
circumstances not under control compel my absence. 

In private life and public station, it has been my good fortune to 
enjoy an intimate association with Mr. Murpliy, and rarely have I 
met a gentleman so judicious in his aims, and so successful in their 
accomplishment. If earnest fidelitj', skill iu the selection of means, 
and persevering energy in the effective employment of them, can 
ensure an adequate viudication of our national honor and interests 
in the sphere of official action now assigned to Mr. Murphy, that 
result will certainly be attained. 

Tendering you my grateful acknowledgments for your kind 
invitation, 

I am, Gentlemen, witli great respect, yours truly, 

CH. O'CONOR. 

Hon. Nathan B, Mouse and otliers. Committee. 

12 



Gentlemen- :- 



90 

Washington-, August 4th, 1857. 



Your note of invitation to attend a public dinner, tendered to the 
Hon. Henry 0. Murphy by his friends, has been received. 

It -would afford me great pleasure, did my engagements permit it, 
to join in offering to Mr. Murphy this well-deserved tribute, and 
give personal assurance of my best wishes for his prosperity. An 
acquaintance of long standing with Mr. Murphy justifies the confi- 
dence reposed in him. A man of heart as well as of intellect, 
shrinking from no responsibility patriotism can impose, industrious, 
energetic, equal to all emergencies, he goes abroad the fitting repre- 
sentative of our country. 

But public duty denies me the indulgence of tlie personal gratifi- 
cation I should derive from accepting your polite invitation, which I 
am compelled to decline. 

-With great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

J. THOMPSON. 

Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske and others, Committee. 



POTTGHKEEPSIE, AugUst 4, 1857. 

Gentlemen : — 

I have delayed until this late hour answering your invitation to 
the festival to-morrow — not knowing but that I might be able to 
escape from my engagements and occupations, so as to join you. 
But I find it will be impossible. It always affords me pleasure to 
meet and associate with the citizens of Brooklyn, and it would be a 
great satisfaction to join you in your well-deserved tribute of respect 
and regard for your fellow-townsman, Mr. Mttrphy. There will be, 
however, such troops of friends to speed him on his departure for 
the honorable and responsible post he goes abroad to fill, that my 
absence will not be noticed or felt. I must beg you and him to 
accept this unavoidable apology; and wishing him a prosperous 
voyage, a pleasant sojourn in old Holland, and a successful Mission, 
I pray you to believe me, 

Very truly, 

Your friend and servant, 

JAMES EMOTT. 

Hon. N. B. Morse and others, Committee. 



1 



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